Aulacomya atra

Aulacomya atra
Magellan mussels at the Municipal Puerto Montt Market
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Bivalvia
Subclass: Pteriomorphia
Order: Mytiloida
Family: Mytilidae
Genus: Aulacomya
Species: A. atra
Binomial name
Aulacomya atra
(Molina, 1782)
Synonyms

Mytilus crenatus Lamarck, 1819[1]

Aulacomya atra (often misspelled Aulacomya ater), called also the Magellan mussel[2] or the ribbed mussel,[1][3] is a southern species of edible saltwater mussel, a marine bivalve mollusk in the family Mytilidae, the true mussels.[1] Note that the common name ribbed mussel is also used of the Northern Hemisphere mussel Geukensia demissa.

Aulacomya atra is native in South America - in Peru, Chile (where it grows up to 170 mm in length), the Falkland Islands and Argentina.[2] It is also found on the coasts of New Zealand and Southern Africa, from Namibia to Port Alfred, South Africa, from the intertidal to 40 m.[3] Introdced specimens have been found in Moray Firth, Scotland, Europe.[2]

A big Magellan mussel

In Southern Africa the species grows up to 90 mm in length. It usually lives in crowded intertidal beds. Individual animals have brown ribbed shells, which darken to black with age.[4]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Bouchet, P.; Gofas, S. (2011). Aulacomya atra (Molina, 1782). World Register of Marine Species. Accessed on 2012-4-17
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Magellan mussel Aulacomya ater Joint Nature Conservation Committee. Accessed 2012
  3. 3.0 3.1 Branch, G.M., Branch, M.L, Griffiths, C.L. and Beckley, L.E (2005): Two Oceans: a guide to the marine life of southern Africa ISBN 0-86486-672-0
  4. Day, J.H. 1969. Marine Life on South African Shores Balkema, Cape Town