Mussel; Blue Mussel (U.S.A.)

Family Mytilidae

• Portuguese: Mexilhão
• Spanish: Mejillón
• French: Moule
• Dutch: Mossel
• German: Miesmuschel
• Polish: Omutek
• Russian: Midiya
• Swedish: Blåmussla
• Norwegian: Blåskjell
• Danish: Blåmusling
• Icelandic: Kræklingur
• Other: Mojohon (Basque)

REMARKS Maximum length about 13 cm, usual market length 5 to 8 cm. Everyone is familiar with their dark-blue or blackish shells, but some varieties are paler or rayed with dark brown or purple. I show two varieties above.

This species has an extensive range, from the southern Arctic down to North Carolina and the Mediterranean. Until recently it was thought that the so-called Mediterranean mussel, which is found as far north as Britain, was a separate species, Mytilus galloprovincialis Lamarck. It has a less angular shell and the mantle-edge of live specimens is dark instead of white or pale. But it is now counted as a race or variety of the main species.