Malacology
Malacology is the study of mollusks. This includes animals like octopus, snails, slugs, and clams. It is the second largest phylum of animals, making them one of the most successful groups on the planet. There are over 80,000 described species of mollusks with many more left to be discovered. Mullusca is composed of 8 recognized classes including Cephalopoda, Gastropoda, Polyplacophora, Scaphapoda, Monoplacophorans, the Aplacophorans, Caudofoveata and Solenogastres, and Bivalvia.
Blue Mussel
Linnaeus, 1758
Mytilus edulis
Class:
Bivalvia
Order:
Mytilida
Family:
Mytilidae
Misc. Facts
It is eaten by the Dog Whelk and the Common Dab (fish).
Citations
MolluscaBase eds. (2021). MolluscaBase. Mytilus edulis Linnaeus, 1758. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=140480 on 2021-06-10
Morris, P. A. (1987). A field guide to shells: Atlantic and Gulf coasts and the West Indies (3rd ed.). Houghton Mifflin.
Jorrit H. Poelen, James D. Simons and Chris J. Mungall. (214). Global Biotic Interactions: An open infrastructure to share and analyze species-interaction datasets. Ecological Informatics. https://doi.org/1.116/j.ecoinf.214.8.5.