Talk:Mussel

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Marine life
Portal
This article is part of WikiProject Marine life, an attempt at creating a standardized, informative, comprehensive and easy-to-use resource on marine life. If you would like to participate, you can choose to edit this article, or visit the project page where you can join the project and/or contribute to the discussion. This project is an offshoot of the WikiProject Tree of Life.

This article has been assigned to the mollusca category.

B This article has been rated as B-Class on the assessment scale.

Contents

[edit] Expansion attempts

I am working on expanding the article a bit, but any help with taxonomy and fact-checking would be welcome. This is a work in progress. --DanielCD 19:05, 26 May 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Vandalism

I reverted vandalism by 212.135.1.57 which has been around for a while, even though a few good edits have been made. Please watch out over this article a little more. The preceding unsigned comment was added by Michiel Sikma (talk • contribs) .

[edit] Cooking

Please explain why mussels must be alive before cooking. Also, many mussel recipes say to discard open mussels before cooking, and also discard "closed" mussels after cooking. I would like to know why. Is it due to bacteria?

thanks The preceding unsigned comment was added by 63.204.118.115 (talk • contribs) .

The closed/open test is a simple way to identify dead mussels. These must be discarded. Each is a little Pandor'a Box of putrescence: do not eat, do not peek inside. —Ryanrs 02:57, 31 May 2006 (UTC)


I've read on "World Famous Pikes Place Fish Market" website that the easiest way to test if an open mussle is dead or not is to place it in your hand tightly and see if it closes sensing the hand's heat. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Payam81 (talkcontribs)

likewise, I've heard that open is not _necessarily_ bad, as long as they react to being forcefully pinched closed by closing themselves up tight promptly... definately O.R. but hey, this is a talk page.. --Kvuo 04:40, 23 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Question

What is the difference between a clam and a mussel? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.127.173.11 (talk • contribs)

From the clam article: "While the term "clam" has no taxonomic significance in biology, in general use, the term clam refers to a bivalve (a mollusk whose body is protected by two symmetrical shells) that is not an oyster, mussel, or a scallop, and that has a more-or-less oval shape, or alternately, to a freshwater mussel..." --DanielCD 03:33, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

My partner and I are working on a school project about mussels industry in the UK from business perspective (industry structure, competition, markets, value chain, profitability, etc.). Does anybody know of a good source for primary data for that? We would then try to expand this article bringing some insights from business perspective.

[edit] Vegans and Mussels

There is a popular myth that Vegans can eat mussels because they lack nervous systems. Is this true? If someone can say for certain perhaps it should go on the page Thefuguestate 17:57, 20 February 2007 (UTC)

It's not true, they're of the kingdom Animalia and therefore animals. Likewise vegetarians do not eat them either.

[edit] Pick your own

Is it generally safe to pick and eat mussels. If yes then where and when are the best times? Talskiddy —Preceding unsigned comment added by Talskiddy (talkcontribs) 15:57, 8 December 2007 (UTC)

You certainly can eat wild mussels - but remember that they are filter feeders, so make sure they are harvested from clean shores well away from eg. raw sewage outfalls. River Cottage have a forum on their website where people can ask and answer questions about wild food - maybe you can get some good tips there. You could also look at books by eg. Ray Mears, who is very into the wild harvest. DuncanHill (talk) 11:42, 9 December 2007 (UTC)
I won't pick mussels and eat them if you're not shure there are no harmfull algal blooms. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.190.112.194 (talk) 09:15, 10 April 2008 (UTC)