Scientific name:

Mytilus edulis

About:

Lives on rocky, sandy or muddy shores, from the low tide mark well out to sea. Forms large, dense ‘beds’ of mussels which, when exposed at low tide, are a favourite hunting ground for oystercatchers. A filter feeder.

How to identify:

<p>A very familiar shell, triangular-oval shaped and black-blue in colour, up to 7cm long.</p>

Where:

Found all round our shores.

Fantastic facts:

Mussels are commercially grown on ropes, as well as harvested from wild growing populations.