A study of six beaches in the coastal city of Guarujá in São Paulo state (Southeast Brazil) suggests that urbanization may be a source of stress not only for humans but also for mussels. Researchers affiliated with the ...
Plants & Animals
Dec 05, 2019
0
4
Though small and somewhat nondescript, quagga and zebra mussels pose a huge threat to local rivers, lakes and estuaries. Thanks to aggressive measures to prevent contamination, Santa Barbara County's waters have so far been ...
Ecology
Dec 02, 2019
0
11
One of the world's most notorious invasive species has established itself on Australia's coastlines, according to research from The University of Queensland.
Ecology
Dec 02, 2019
0
5
Most Americans know mussels as thumb-sized shellfish that occasionally adorn restaurant dinner plates.
Ecology
Nov 29, 2019
0
262
Mussels hitching a ride on ocean-going ships are likely responsible for the spread of an infectious cancer found in different species on either side of the Atlantic, scientists say.
Ecology
Nov 14, 2019
0
341
The frequent presence of leeches with a hidden lifestyle in the mantle cavity of freshwater mussels has been recorded since the second half of the 19th century. Yet this was, until now, regarded as an accidental phenomenon. ...
Plants & Animals
Nov 11, 2019
0
305
An infectious cancer that originated in one species of mussel growing in the Northern Hemisphere has spread to related mussels in South America and Europe, says a new study published today in eLife.
Plants & Animals
Nov 05, 2019
0
40
According to a new study published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 40 years of reduced mercury use, emissions, and loading in the Great Lakes region have largely not produced equivalent declines ...
Environment
Nov 04, 2019
0
281
Although concentrations of chemicals and pollutants like salt and nutrients have increased in the deep waters of Lake George, they're still too low to harm the ecosystem at those depths, according to an analysis of nearly ...
Earth Sciences
Nov 01, 2019
0
11
They hitch rides on the soles of people's shoes and in water carried and dumped by ships, enabling them to sneak through borders undetected.
Plants & Animals
Oct 28, 2019
0
3
Pteriomorpha (marine mussels) Palaeoheterodonta (freshwater mussels) Heterodonta (zebra mussels)
The common name mussel is used for members of several families of clams or bivalve molluscs, from saltwater and freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other edible clams, which are often more or less rounded or oval.
The word "mussel" is most frequently used to mean the edible bivalves of the marine family Mytilidae, most of which live on exposed shores in the intertidal zone, attached by means of their strong byssal threads ("beard") to a firm substrate. A few species (in the genus Bathymodiolus) have colonized hydrothermal vents associated with deep ocean ridges.
In most marine mussels the shell is longer than it is wide, being wedge-shaped or asymmetrical. The external color of the shell is often dark blue, blackish, or brown, while the interior is silvery and somewhat nacreous.
The word "mussel" is also used for many freshwater bivalves, including the freshwater pearl mussels. Freshwater mussel species inhabit lakes, ponds, rivers, creeks, canals, and similar habitats. These bivalves belong to several allied families, the largest family being the Unionidae. They are not closely related to saltwater mussels; they are taxonomically grouped in a different subclass, despite some very superficial similarities in appearance.
Freshwater Zebra mussels and their relatives in the family Dreissenidae are not related to previously mentioned groups, even though they resemble many Mytilus species in shape, and live attached to rocks and other hard surfaces in a similar manner, using a byssus. They are classified with the Heterodonta, the taxonomic group which includes most of the bivalves commonly referred to as "clams".
This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA
