Mussel
Mollusca – Bivalvia
Distribution:
A mussel is a bivalve mollusc – it has a shell with two halves (valves) joined by a hinge. Of varied colours, mussels generally occur in groups, attached by tough flexible threads (the byssus or beard) to hard surfaces such as jetty pylons. With different species living in estuaries, oceans and coastal waters, mussels filter food particles from the water drawn in through their large gills.
Did you know?
Mussels can act as a substrate for other animals, such as barnacles, that attach themselves to their shell valves.
In This Section
- Chordates – Animals with backbones
- Invertebrates – Animals without backbones
- Abalone
- Acorn barnacle
- Baler shell
- Blue button sea jelly
- Bluebottle
- Bryozoan
- Bubbler crabs and sand balls
- Chiton
- Cone shell
- Coral
- Cowry shell
- Crab
- Cuttlebone
- Goose barnacle
- Hermit crabs
- Horned ghost crab (Manburr)
- Limpet
- Mud crab
- Mussel
- Periwinkle
- Pipi
- Ram’s horn shell
- Razor clam
- Sand dollars
- Scallop
- Sea hare
- Sea hares
- Sea jelly
- Sea star
- Sea urchin
- Silver-lip pearl oyster
- Sponge
- Tube worm
- Turban snail
- Violet snail
- Marine Pests
- Seagrasses and Algae
- Unusual Finds