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The word Byssus has two related meanings, and one rather different one, according to the context:

IN BIOLOGY: Byssus is the filaments created by numerous different kinds of marine and freshwater bivalve mollusks, by which they can attach themselves to hard substrates, or to the sea bed.

Families of bivalves that contain species which secrete a byssus include the Arcidae, Mytilidae
Mytilidae

Mytilidae is a family of small to large saltwater mussels, marine bivalve mollusks in the order Mytiloida. It is the only family in the order....
, Anomiidae
Anomiidae

Anomiidae is a family of bivalve molluscs related to scallops and oysters, and known as anomiids.The family is known by several common names, including jingle shells, saddle oysters, windowpane oysters, mermaid's toenails and kapis shells....
, Pinnidae
Pinnidae

Pinnidae is a Family of large saltwater clams sometimes known as pen shells. They are Marine bivalve molluscs in the Scientific classification Pterioida....
, Pectinidae
Pectinidae

The Pectinidae are a family of Bivalvia mollusks including the scallop and closely related to the clam and oyster. They live in most oceans of the world on banks of clean, firm sand close to the coast in waters up to 100 meters deep....
, Dreissenidae
Dreissenidae

The Dreissenidae are a family of small freshwater mussels, aquatic animal bivalve mollusks. They attach themselves to stones or to any other hard surface using a byssus....
, Unionidae
Unionidae

Unionidae is a Family of freshwater mussels, aquatic animal bivalve mollusks which are sometimes known as river mussels, naiads or simply as unionids....
 and others.






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The word Byssus has two related meanings, and one rather different one, according to the context:

IN BIOLOGY: Byssus is the filaments created by numerous different kinds of marine and freshwater bivalve mollusks, by which they can attach themselves to hard substrates, or to the sea bed.

Families of bivalves that contain species which secrete a byssus include the Arcidae, Mytilidae
Mytilidae

Mytilidae is a family of small to large saltwater mussels, marine bivalve mollusks in the order Mytiloida. It is the only family in the order....
, Anomiidae
Anomiidae

Anomiidae is a family of bivalve molluscs related to scallops and oysters, and known as anomiids.The family is known by several common names, including jingle shells, saddle oysters, windowpane oysters, mermaid's toenails and kapis shells....
, Pinnidae
Pinnidae

Pinnidae is a Family of large saltwater clams sometimes known as pen shells. They are Marine bivalve molluscs in the Scientific classification Pterioida....
, Pectinidae
Pectinidae

The Pectinidae are a family of Bivalvia mollusks including the scallop and closely related to the clam and oyster. They live in most oceans of the world on banks of clean, firm sand close to the coast in waters up to 100 meters deep....
, Dreissenidae
Dreissenidae

The Dreissenidae are a family of small freshwater mussels, aquatic animal bivalve mollusks. They attach themselves to stones or to any other hard surface using a byssus....
, Unionidae
Unionidae

Unionidae is a Family of freshwater mussels, aquatic animal bivalve mollusks which are sometimes known as river mussels, naiads or simply as unionids....
 and others. In edible mussel
Mussel

The common name mussel is used for members of several different families of clams or bivalve molluscs, from both saltwater and freshwater habitats....
s the byssus is known as the "beard
Beard

A beard is the hair that grows on a person's chin, cheeks, neck, and the area above the upper lip. Typically, only males going through puberty, or post-pubescent males are able to grow beards....
" of the mussel.

The word byssus is also commonly used specifically in reference to the exceptionally long, fine, silky threads secreted by the very large Mediterranean pen shell, Pinna nobilis
Pinna nobilis

Pinna nobilis, common name the "noble pen shell" is a species of pen shell, a large marine bivalve mollusk in the family Pinnidae, the pen shells....
. The byssus threads from this species of Pinna
Pinna (genus)

Pinna is a genus of pen shells. It is a cosmopolitan genus of bivalve molluscs characterized by elongated, wedge-shaped shells which most commonly stand point-first in the sea bottom in which they live, anchored by a net of byssus threads....
 can be up to 6 cm in length and have historically been made into cloth, see below.

IN CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY: Byssus is an exceptionally fine and valuable fibre or cloth from ancient times, usually referred to as sea silk
Sea silk

Sea silk is an extremely fine, rare and valuable textile produced from the long silky filaments or byssus secreted by a gland in the foot of several bivalve mollusks by which they attach themselves to the sea bed....
, sometimes as cloth of gold
Cloth of gold

Cloth of gold is a textile woven with a gold-wrapped or spun weft - referred to as "a spirally spun gold strip". In most cases, the core yarn is silk wrapped with a band or strip of high content gold fil?....
 (which normally refers to something completely different), which is made from the byssus of Pinna nobilis. The word byssus (as applied to byssus cloth) appears in the Greek text of the Rosetta Stone
Rosetta Stone

The Rosetta Stone is an Ancient Egyptian Artifact which was instrumental in advancing modern understanding of Egyptian hieroglyphsic writing....
 , although this may possibly be a reference to fine linen
Linen

Linen is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant, Linum usitatissimum. Linen is labor-intensive to manufacture, but when it is made into garments, it is valued for its exceptional coolness and freshness in hot weather....
 cloth.

IN BOTANY: Byssus is the rhizomorphs or grouped hyphae of certain fungi; these can physically resemble a bivalve byssus in form.

This article is about the first two meanings of byssus.

Derivation

The word byssus, plural "byssi", derives from the Hebrew
Hebrew language

Hebrew is a Semitic languages of the Afro-Asiatic languages. Modern Hebrew is spoken by more than seven million people in Israel and Classical Hebrew is used for prayer or study in Jews communities around the world....
 bu? 'fine linen,' Aramaic bus, Greek
Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
 ß?ss?? – 'a very fine yellowish flax
Flax

Flax is a member of the genus Linum in the family Linaceae. It is native to the region extending from the eastern Mediterranean region to India and was probably first domesticated in the Fertile Crescent....
 and the linen
Linen

Linen is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant, Linum usitatissimum. Linen is labor-intensive to manufacture, but when it is made into garments, it is valued for its exceptional coolness and freshness in hot weather....
 woven from it', Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
 byssus – 'fine cotton
Cotton

Cotton is a soft, staple fiber that grows in a form known as a boll around the seeds of the cotton plant a shrub native to tropical and subtropical regions around the world, including the Americas, India and Africa....
 or cotton stuff', 'silk
Silk

Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be weaving into textiles. The best-known type of silk is obtained from Pupa#Cocoons made by the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity ....
' and via New Latin
New Latin

The term New Latin or Neo-Latin is used to describe a form the Latin language used after the end of the Medieval Latin period to c. 1900, and in a very limited fashion, down to the present day....
 to 'sea silk
Sea silk

Sea silk is an extremely fine, rare and valuable textile produced from the long silky filaments or byssus secreted by a gland in the foot of several bivalve mollusks by which they attach themselves to the sea bed....
'.

Formation of byssus in mussels

Byssus Threads
Many species of mussel
Mussel

The common name mussel is used for members of several different families of clams or bivalve molluscs, from both saltwater and freshwater habitats....
s secrete byssus threads to attach themselves to rocks and other hard surfaces.

When a mussel's foot encounters a crevice, it creates a vacuum chamber by forcing out the air and arching up, similar to a plumber's plunger unclogging a drain. The byssus, made of keratin
Keratin

Keratins are a family of fibrous protein; tough and insoluble, they form the hard but mineral structures found in reptiles, birds, amphibians and mammals....
, quinone-tanned proteins, and other proteins, is spewed into this chamber in liquid form, and bubbles into a sticky foam. By curling its foot into a tube and pumping the foam, the mussel produces sticky threads about the size of a human hair
Hair

Hair is a protein filament that epidermal growth from hair follicle deep within the dermis. The fine, soft hair found on many nonhuman mammals is typically called fur; wool is the characteristically curly hair found on sheep and goats....
. The mussel then varnishes the threads with another protein, resulting in an adhesive.

Byssus is a remarkable adhesive, one that is neither degraded nor deformed by water, as are synthetic adhesives. This property has spurred genetic engineers
Genetic engineering

Engineering There are a number of ways through which genetic engineering is accomplished. Essentially, the process has five main steps# Isolation of the genes of interest...
 to insert mussel DNA
DNA

Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetics instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms and some viruses....
 into yeast
Yeast

Yeasts are eukaryote microorganisms classified in the Kingdom fungus, with about 1,500 species currently described; they dominate fungal diversity in the oceans....
 cells for translating the genes into the appropriate proteins.

In edible mussels, the byssus is commonly known as the "beard
Beard

A beard is the hair that grows on a person's chin, cheeks, neck, and the area above the upper lip. Typically, only males going through puberty, or post-pubescent males are able to grow beards....
". It is inedible, and is removed before cooking.

Footnotes