Mollusk Discovery

Atlantic Scallop

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4725641340799031501#

Argopecten gibbus

Kingdom- Animalia

Phylum- Mollusca

Class- Bivalvia

Order- Ostreoida

Family- Pectinidae

Genus- Argopecten
Species- gibbus

Bivalves are easily recognized by their two-halved shell. They can burrow into the sediment or live on the ocean floor. Some can even move around through the water by snapping their shell open and shut to swim. Scallops use jet propulsion in order to move. Bivalves incude clams, oysters, mussels, scallops, ark skells, and jingle shells. They build their shells by the calcium carbonate that is secreted through the mantle. They are normally shut tight except for a small gap. They have adductor muscles that close and shut their shells. All have 2 muscles, except for scallops which have only one and oysters. They feed by filtering the water and it sticks to their gills and mantle that is covered in mucus to trap food. Some have byssal threads to attach themselves to the substrate. Scallops have even have eyes to detect shadows and escape predators.