Tag Archive: bivalves


TAXONOMY
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Bivalvia
Subclass: Pteriomorphia
Order: Pectinoida
Family: Pectinidae

Genus/species: Crassedoma giganteum

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS: Giant Rock Scallops have coarsely ribbed shells called valves. The upper valve is usually scallop-shaped but the lower valve takes the shape of the substrate to which it’s attached. Between the valves, the margin of the orange mantle can be seen, with a row of tiny blue eyes and a sparse fringe of short tentacles

SIZE: up to a diameter of 15 centimetres (5.9 in) in the intertidal zone and 25 centimetres (9.8 in) in the subtidal zone.

DISTRIBUTION: Pacific coast California and Canada and south to Baja California and Mexico usually inside crevices and under boulders, or cemented to rock surfaces, Depth down to about 80 metres (260 ft).

DIET IN THE WILD: C. gigantea is a suspension feeder, filtering phytoplankton from water as it passes over the gills. The particles are moved by cilia along grooves to the mouth where edible matter is separated from sediment particles. The waste is incorporated into mucous balls which are removed from the mantle cavity periodically by a clapping of the valves.

REPRODUCTION: The sexes are separate in C. gigantea. The veliger larvae that develop from the eggs form part of the zooplankton for about 40 days before settling, undergoing metamorphosis and beginning to form a shell. Juveniles are free-living, are able to swim and can attach themselves temporarily to the substrate by byssus threads. 

PREDATORS: Sunflower starfish (Pycnopodia helianthoides) and purple sea star (Pisaster ochraceus).

REMARKS: The scallops eyes can’t see images as we can, but they allow the scallop to adjust to the brightness of light. This can be of benefit when it opens its protective shells to pump water over their gills filtering food thus exposing its soft body parts to predators. As a predator approaches at least some light will be blocked and the scallop closes it shells.

References

California Academy of Sciences Steinhart Aquarium Dr Charles Delbeek 2018

Ron’s flickr  https://www.flickr.com/photos/cas_docents/39884701811/in/album-72157675344287795/

iNaturalist  www.inaturalist.org/taxa/54526-Crassadoma-gigantea

Global species: www.globalspecies.org/ntaxa/913354

Reef.org www.reef.org/resources/galleries/invertebrate?page=1

Eyes. www.chuckkopczakphotography.com/blog/2015/11/13/the-eyes-…

TAXONOMY

Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Bivalvia
Order: Filibranchia
Family: Mytilidae

Genus/species: Mytilus californianus

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS: California mussels are relatively large mussels, with a blue-black shell with strong radial ribs and irregular growth lines. Maximum size is about 13 cm (5 in). The shell surface is often worn and eroded.

 

DISTRIBUTION/HABITAT:  California mussels form extensive beds, commonly mixed with gooseneck barnacles (Pollicipes polymerus). Attached firmly to the substrate by tough proteinaceous byssal threads, mussels are able to thrive in the most surf-swept areas. Mussel beds break the force of waves and collect organic debris, and so provide shelter and food for other organisms. Worms, chitons, snails, clams, isopods, crabs, and sea cucumbers are among the invertebrates found in mussel beds.

The upper limit of the mussel beds is set primarily by physical factors, particularly time out of water. The lower limit is set in part by the predation of the ochre star (Pisaster ochraceus), which practices vertical foraging, moving up and down with the tides. Mussels range from low intertidal to 40 m (131 ft) deep and are common in surf-swept, rocky areas, and are found from Alaska to southern Baja California.

 

DIET IN THE WILD: Mussels filter fine organic detritus and living plankton from sea water. A mussel filters 1.8 l to 2.8 l (2 to 3 qts) of water an hour.

        

PREDATORS: California mussels are favored food items of seas stars (especially ochre stars), crabs, predatory snails, shorebirds, sea otters, and humans. Sea otters have devastated formerly extensive mussel beds in Monterey Bay.

 

REPRODUCTION: Mussels are either male or female. During breeding they broadcast sperm or eggs into the sea where fertilization occurs. They spawn November to May. Mussel larvae are free-swimming for about four weeks. After settling and attachment they grow to full size in about three years.

 

Remarks

  • The California mussel attaches to rocks by fibers called byssal threads. These threads are produced as a liquid by the byssal gland. The liquid runs down a groove formed by the foot. When the foot pulls back, exposing the liquid to sea water, the liquid solidifies into a thread.
  • A large mussel moves by breaking old threads, then attaching new ones to another spot; a small mussel creeps around on its foot.
  • By filtering algae spores from the water, mussels may limit algae growing around mussel beds.
  • Coastal areas are at risk from development and pollution. Mussels are also at risk because many of their homes are in danger of being ‘loved too much’ by too many tide pool visitors.

References

California Academy of Sciences Docent Guide 2015

flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/cas_docents/5118861762/in/set-72157608597736188/

WordPress shortlink:  http://wp.me/p1DZ4b-wF

Encyclopedia of Life eol.org/pages/449960/details

Monterey Bay Aquarium www.montereybayaquarium.org/animal-guide/invertebrates/ca…


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