The Mediterranean mussel, Mytilus galloprovincialis, also known as the bay mussel, blue mussel or Mittelmeer-Miesmuschel is a species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 of bivalve

Bivalvia

Bivalvia is a taxonomic class of marine and freshwater molluscs. This class includes clams, oysters, mussels, scallops, and many other families of molluscs that have two hinged shells...

. It is a marine

Marine (ocean)

Marine is an umbrella term. As an adjective it is usually applicable to things relating to the sea or ocean, such as marine biology, marine ecology and marine geology...

 mollusc in the family

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

 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...

.

Distribution

This species is found in the Mediterranean and around the southern African coast, from the Namibian border to Port Alfred, intertidally to just below the low tide border. The mussels found in Southern California

Southern California

Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...

 are similar to Mytilus galloprovincialis and are probably introduced accidentally.

Description

This animal grows up to 140 mm in length. It is a smooth-shelled mussel with a slightly broader base than that of the black mussel

Black mussel

The black mussel, Choromytilus meridionalis, is a species of bivalve. It is a marine mollusc in the family Mytilidae.-Distribution:This species is found only around the southern African coast, from central Namibia to Port Elizabeth, from the low intertidal to about 10m.-Description:This animal...

, with which it is often confused. Its shell is blue-violet or black, but may shade to light brown.

Ecology

The Mediterranean mussel is a filter feeder. It is rare subtidally, which is an alternate means of distinguishing it from the black mussel. It was introduced from Europe in 1984 and is now the dominant low intertidal mussel on the West Coast. It is often found with the white dwarf barnacle, Notomegabalanus algicola growing on its shell. This barnacle gives the mussel protection against the spiny starfish, Marthasterias glacialis.

External links

• Schönitzer V. & Weiss I. M. "The structure of mollusc larval shells formed in the presence of the chitin synthase inhibitor Nikkomycin Z". (2007). BMC Structural Biology
  BMC Structural Biology
  BMC Structural Biology is an open access peer-reviewed scientific journal that covers research in structural biology. The journal was established in 2001 and is published by BioMed Central....
  
  7: 71. doi:10.1186/1472-6807-7-71
• habitas.org