Mussel

Blue Mussel-   Scientific name - Mytilus edulis

Conservation status

The MCS discusses variability in the sustainability of Mussels. Farmed Mussels are their recommended Best Choice and a low-impact method of producing shellfish. Shellfish can filter all the food they need out of the surrounding water as it flows past, and do not require any additional foods.

2 fishing  areas are mentioned as in Need of Improvement - Poole Harbour and around the island of Ireland coastline.

Here Blue Mussels are harvested using dredges, which may cause habitat impacts, although some measures are in place to protect vulnerable habitats and to reduce bycatch.

Mussels can be both marine or freshwater.

Out of 511 species assessed globally, 44% of freshwater mussels listed on the IUCN Red List are classified at some level of threatened.

Overview

The Blue Mussel is the most common mussel that we find around the British coastline and tend to be served up in restaurants or readily available to buy in shops for cooking.

They are shellfish and come with a dark blue, blackish, or brown exterior shell with a silvery interior.

The mussel's external shell is composed of two hinged halves or "valves". The valves are joined on the outside by a ligament, and are closed when necessary by strong internal muscles. This allows protection against predators.

Both marine and freshwater mussels are filter feeders; they feed on plankton and other microscopic sea creatures which are free-floating in seawater. Marine mussels are usually found clumped together on wave-washed rocks, each attached to the rock by its byssus. The clumping habit helps hold the mussels firm against the force of the waves.

Mussels live on rocky, sandy or muddy shores, from the low tide mark and in shallow seas all around the UK. It forms large, dense mussel beds that cover the seabed, with each mussel attaching itself to the seabed and each other using sticky fibres called byssus threads.

Blue mussels can live up to 15 years but pollution and other hazards reduce their life expectancy.

Mussels originated during the Cambrian period, a time of rapid diversification of animal life around 540 to 520 million years ago. 

Mussels have huge environmental importance.  They are natural water filters, help create habitats for other marine life, and can help with carbon capture. When they die their shells lie on the sea floor trapping and storing carbon.

Sources

Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mussel

Wildlife Trust - https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/marine/bivalves/mussel

Marine Conservation Society - https://www.mcsuk.org/goodfishguide/species/blue-mussel/?search=mussel

IUCN - https://www.iucnredlist.org/search?query=mussels&searchType=species