Alan Davidson

Horse Mussel

Modiolus modiolus (Linnaeus)

Appears in
top 1000North Atlantic Seafood
North Atlantic Seafood

By Alan Davidson

Published 1980

  • About

Family Mytilidae

  • Spanish: Mejillón barbado
  • French: Moule barbue
  • Swedish: Hästmussla
  • Norwegian: O’skjell
  • Other: Oða (Faroese); Yoag (Shetland)

REMARKS Maximum length around 15 cm, although an exceptional specimen of 23 cm was once found.

This species has a wide range in the North Atlantic, from the White Sea down to Biscay and from Labrador to North Carolina; and is also present in the North Pacific.

The shells are purplish yellow in colour, but covered by a dark brown periostracum. The animal inside is orange, with a red foot. Like the fan mussel on the next page, this species often harbours a pea crab within its capacious shell.