mussel

Mussel farming in Chile. Mussel farming is an increasingly popular and profitable form of aquaculture. Fishermen collect the mussels from lines to which dense clusters have attached themselves. The most commonly farmed mussel is the blue mussel, Mytilus edulis.

Mussel farming in Chile. Chile is one of the most important fisheries in the world, and in addition to line- and-net caught fish such as mackerel and anchovy, fish farming is now increasingly practised. Large clusters of mussels attach themselves to lines, from which the fish farmers collect them.

Any of a group of shellfish, some of which are edible, such as the common mussel (Mytilus edulis) which has a blue-black hinged shell and is found in clusters attached to rocks around the North Atlantic and American coasts. Mussels are bivalve molluscs. (Class Bivalvia, phylum Mollusca.)

Freshwater pearl mussels, such as the species Unio margaritiferus, are found in some North American and European rivers. The larvae of the North American freshwater mussel Lampsilis perovalis are parasitic, living on the gills or fins of freshwater bass. The larvae of the British swan mussel (Anodonta cygnea) are also parasitic. Margaritifera margaritifera became a protected species in 1991 having suffered from pollution and from amateur fishers who, unlike professionals, are not able to extract the pearl without killing the mussel itself. The green-lipped mussel, found only off New Zealand, produces an extract that is used in the treatment of arthritis.