According to some sources, the name mussel is derived from
the Greek word that means, “Mouse”. There certainly was no
confusion on their part, after all the Greeks ate mussels as
we do. The confusion is often ours. Restaurant variety
edible mussels, called blue mussels, are often choice
appetizers available at local seafood eateries. They are
also fine ingredients for a homemade bouillabaisse. As
marine animals, blue mussels are found near shore but
submerged even at low tide. They occur in mussel banks or on
pilings where they aggregate in clusters as sedentary
bivalves. Byssus threads originating from a sticky fluid
produced by the mussel’s foot anchor their position. The
fluid hardens into threads a few minutes after secretion.
Mussels feed by using their gills to strain plankton from
the seawater.
For blue
mussels, nearly full strength seawater is required. Mussels
found in less salty water in the upper reaches of the
Peconic estuary, west of Shelter Island for example, are
most likely ribbed mussels whose most common habitat is the
interface between the salt marsh grasses and the muddy sand
of the adjacent intertidal water. It is these mussels that
hikers near a salt marsh would see. This species is also
“edible” but not usually harvested for human consumption.
More often they are used as chum bait by fishers. However,
these mussels can be eaten when the upland marsh runoff and
neighboring waters are free of potentially hazardous
contaminants. Never eat any bivalves located near marinas
nor comparably developed shorefront areas. So, with proper
precaution….bon appetite.
