b'IMAGE CREDIT: WIKIPEDIABay Scallop. The blue dots are their eyes! IMAGE CREDIT: CAPE COD MARITIME MUSEUM Bay Scallop (Argopecten irradians)Blue Mussel (left) compared to Ribbed Mussel (right).The commercial bay scalloping industry first Ribbed Mussels are not nearly as delicious as Bluebegan on Cape Cod in Hyannis in 1874, and the Mussels - they often come out very rubbery and toughindustry spread rapidly over the Cape and when cooked.Islands thereafter. It was booming business; Blue Mussels (Mytilus Edulis) however, bay scallops have been in decline Wild blue mussels have been harvested fromsince the mid-1980s. They reproduce, grow, inshore bays and estuaries all over the worldand live among and on the surface of the eel-for thousands of years. Mussels live in densegrass beds or seabed. They propel themselves colonies called mussel beds and are mostaround by opening and closing their shells abundant in tidal areas around rocks and jet- using their large abductor muscle. They also ties. They attach to the rocks by using threadshave 30 to 40 bright blue eyes lining the edge of which are a bunch of filaments that it secretes.their mantle that allows them to see movement This is often called their beard. When the tideand shadows to detect predators. They have a comes in, the animal partially opens, taking invery short lifespan of only two years. water filled with plankton and other nutrients to feed on. When the tide goes out, they close their shells tightly to prevent dehydration. They are harvested both in the wild and farmed. In ideal conditions, mussels can live between 18 and 24 years.62 Main St. 508.228.0437 @ackredsnantucke\x07eds.comIMAGE CREDIT: CAPE COD MARITIME MUSEUMRazor Clams. Razor Clams (Ensis directus)IMAGE CREDIT: CAPE COD MARITIME MUSEUM Eastern Razor Clams, also called Jackknife Oysters.Clams, are found all along the Atlantic Coast from Canada to South Carolina. Though not Oysters (Ostreidae) normally consumed in the United States, their Oysters live in salty and brackish waters onlargest market is Asia. They are found all over all U.S. coasts. They are filter feeders and con- Cape Cod, living in sandy tidal areas, but they sume phytoplankton in the water column. Theyare mostly harvested commercially in Brew-begin life as tiny free-floating, swimming lar- ster, Chatham, Eastham, and Orleans. Their vae. Once they attach to a solid surface likeshells are about 6 inches long, and are narrow rocks, pilings, or other shells, they are calledwith very sharp edges, hence the name, as they spat. From this point on, they grow and mature,resemble and feel like an old-fashioned self-sustaining themselves by filtering all thestraight razor. Difficult to catch, they burrow nutrients they need directly from the water. Invertically and deep into the sand using their natural beds they can live up to 30 years. Theylong, retractable foot as an anchor to then pull are very good at cleaning up the bays and estu- themselves deeper into the sand. They are the aries by filtering out the nitrogen pollution. Anfastest diggers of all the shellfish. Commercial adult oyster can filter up to 50 gallons of impurefishermen will spray a concentrated salt solu-water every day. Today most oysters on Capetion down the hole to irritate the clam, where-Cod are cultivated and grown on aquacultureupon it will emerge from the depths to be farms on the flats around the Cape.plucked by hand by the fishermen.continued on next pageThis is Hy-Line 29'