What does a blue mussel (California mussel) use to attach to a rock?
California mussel | |
---|---|
Scientific nomenclature | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Mollusca |
Grade: | Bivalvia |
Society: | Mytilida |
Family: | Mytilidae |
Genus: | Mytilus |
Species: | M. californianus |
Binomial name | |
Mytilus californianus Conrad, 1837 |
The California mussel (Mytilus californianus) is a large edible mussel, a marine bivalve mollusk in the family Mytilidae.
This species is native to the west coast of Northward America, occurring from northern Mexico to the Aleutian Islands of Alaska. California mussels are found clustered together, often in very large aggregations, on rocks in the upper intertidal zone on the open coast, where they are exposed to the strong action of the surf.
Trounce description [edit]
The crush of this species is thick and is often 129 to 130 millimetres (5 to five in) in length, sometimes larger however. The beat is blue on the outside with a heavy dark-brown periostracum which is usually worn off except near the growing edge of the trounce. The beaks of the vanquish are often eroded. The beat has coarse radial ribbing and irregular growth lines on the outer surface. The inner surface of the vanquish is blueish and faintly pearly.
Like other mytilids, the fauna is attached to the substrate with a very strong and elastic byssus.
The shell is primarily fabricated of carbonates.[1] [ii] In the 1950s that was more often than not aragonite with some calcite,[1] [2] but by 2017/2018 the proportions had reversed.[1] [2] This was surprising given that previously some increase in aragonite was observed in warmer waters, and the bounding main temperature has risen since and then, making researchers expect an increase in aragonite.[1] [2] However information technology was the reverse - showing that the deciding gene in M. californianus shell carbonate limerick is sea acidification - because calcite withstands acidity better.[1] [2]
Ecology [edit]
The California mussel prefers the high salinity, low sediment conditions found on open rocky coasts. However, they exercise non colonize bare rock easily, instead preferring the shelter of pre-existing mussels and their biological filaments. Mussels attach themselves to the difficult surfaces using their thread-like byssus.
Given the right circumstances, California mussels tin grow up to 200 mm (8 inches) in length and may live for more than 20 years.[ citation needed ] However, mortality in intertidal open littoral environments is often high, resulting from battering from driftwood and other debris, wave pounding, predation, desiccation, and disease.[ citation needed ] Predators of California mussels include the Pisaster starfish. They feed on plankton.[3]
Human being use [edit]
California mussels were an of import food source for the Native Americans who lived on the Pacific Coast prior to European contact. On California's Northern Aqueduct Islands, archaeological evidence shows that they were harvested continuously for almost 12,000 years. Erlandson et al. (2008) documented a turn down in the boilerplate size of harvested California mussels on San Miguel Isle during the past 10,000 years, a pattern they attributed to growing human populations and increased predation pressure from man fishing. Hogan (2008) notes more specific archaeological recovery from the Chumash in the menses 800 to 1300 AD.
California mussels continue to exist harvested as sources of both food and allurement upwards and down the Pacific Coast of North America. The mankind of the California mussel tends to be orangish in colour. They can be broiled, boiled, or fried like other mussels, clams, and oysters.
While these mussels are usually edible, care needs to exist taken, considering during times of red tide in whatsoever given locality, California mussels may contain harmful levels of the toxins which tin can cause paralytic shellfish poisoning.
In science [edit]
The keystone species concept was coined, in 1969,[iv] by the zoologist Robert T. Paine, professor emeritus of the University of Washington, to explain the relationship between Pisaster ochraceus, a species of starfish, and Mytilus californianus.[5]
See likewise [edit]
- Blue mussel, Mytilus edulis
References [edit]
Notes [edit]
- ^ a b c d e "Ocean acidification is transforming California mussel shells". Phys.org. 2021-01-eleven. Retrieved 2021-01-12 .
- ^ a b c d e Bullard, Elizabeth M.; Torres, Ivan; Ren, Tianqi; Graeve, Olivia A.; Roy, Kaustuv (2021-01-eleven). "Shell mineralogy of a foundational marine species, Mytilus californianus, over half a century in a changing ocean". Proceedings of the National University of Sciences. National Academy of Sciences. 118 (3): e2004769118. doi:x.1073/pnas.2004769118. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC7826377. PMID 33431664.
- ^ "Mytilus californianus taxonomy". www.racerocks.com. Archived from the original on 2018-10-23. Retrieved 2019-01-04 .
- ^ "Keystone Species Hypothesis". University of Washington. Archived from the original on 2011-01-ten. Retrieved 2011-02-03 .
- ^ Stolzenberg, William (2009). Where the Wild Things Were: Life, expiry and ecological wreckage in a country of vanishing predators. Bloomsbury USA. ISBN978-one-59691-299-1.
Sources [edit]
- Erlandson, Jon K., T. C. Rick, T. J. Braje, A. Steinberg, & R.L.Vellanoweth. 2008. Human Impacts on Ancient Shellfish: A 10,000 Yr Record from San Miguel Isle, California. Journal of Archaeological Scientific discipline 35:2144-2152.
- C. Michael Hogan, Los Osos Back Bay, Megalithic Portal, ed. Andy Burnham (2008)
- Schmidt, D., A Review of California Mussel ("Mytilus californianus") Fisheries Biological science and Fisheries Programs, Canadian Stock Assessment Secretariat Enquiry Document 99/187 (PDF)
- McLean, James. 1969. Marine Shells of Southern California, Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_mussel
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