LAMELLIBRANCHIATA. 47 



Mytilidae. 



Mytilus edulis Limic. 

 Mytilus cdtilis Linue, Syst. Nat. cd. 12, i, 2, 1767, p. 1157; Jeffreys, IJrit. Coiichol. II, 1863, p. 104, 



PI. 27, fig. i; Gould & Biimey, Rep. Iiiv. Mas.s. 1870, p. 183, fig.s. 483— 84. 

 Mytilus cdiilis Fabricius, Fauna groenl. 1780, p. 417; Moller, Inde.x Moll, firocnl., 1842, p. 19; 

 Morcli, Rink's Gronlaud, 1857, p. 94; Vidensk. Medd. Naluili. Foren. 1867, p. 97; ibid. 1868, 

 p. 225; Arctic Manual, 1875, p. 133; Rink's Dan. Greenland, 1877, p. 442; Posselt, Medd. oni 

 Gronland XIX, 1895, p. 66; ibid. XXIII, 1898, p. 18; Jensen, ibid. XXIX, 1909, p. 322. 



At West Greenland the edible mussel is common from the southernmost parts up to at 

 least Uuiauak; further north it is said to have been taken by the "Fox" in Melville Bay. The largest 

 specimen (from Disko Fjord) measures no™"'., and specimens of 80— 90"^"'. are not rare. 



Regarding the edible mussel at Greenland H. P. C. MoLler writes in a posthumous manuscript: 

 "The ordinary length is 64 — 77™"'., the largest specimen I possess is 105"""'. long and 50"'"'. broad; 

 it was found at Julianehaab. It occurs everywhere on the west coast of Danish Greenland in great 

 quantities, both on the shores by the open sea and in the bays, among the stones and in craks and 

 crevices of the rocks. It always lives at a depth corresponding with lowest ebb-tide. Gould (Rep. 

 Inv. Mass.) states, that it keeps to places which are laid dry by the water during ebb, but in this 

 country it keeps to the boundary of the lowest ebb, or a little below or outside this; if it went higher 

 up, it would be enclosed by the ice from November to May. It is eaten by the Greenlanders, boiled, 

 raw or pickled in train-oil. It is an even more common source of nourishment for the ravens, foxes, 

 dogs and all the animals, which are forced to seek their food on the shore at ebb-tide". It may be 

 remarked here, however, that I have often seen living mussels in Greenland on seaweed laid dry 

 during ebb-tide, and that Dr. V. Nordmann likewise found living Mytilus in great numbers in 

 Nordre Stromfjord, fixed among Fucus which was daily laid dry at low-water. 



At East Greenland the edible mussel only lives on the southernmost parts; it is not rare 

 in the Angmagsalik district, but the limit for its distribution lies not far north of this place, namely 

 at ca. 66° 30' N. LM- It may reach a length of 84"-™. For the details of its occurrence I may refer 

 to m\- paper: "On the Mollusca of East Greenland" (I.e.). 



At Iceland it occurs in quantities round the whole island; the largest .specimen I have seen 

 is 85 "'™. long. 



At the Faeroes it is found at many places and reaches a length of 93 """. 



The material at hand from Iceland and Greenland shows, that Mytilus edulis is just as variable 



in the north as in more southern regions; but without an exact knowledge of the conditions at the 



different localities, it will hardly repay to discuss the variation. 



I) It is recorded in the literature (Posselt I.e.), that the Danish East Greenland Rxped. of 1S92 took a small edible 

 mussel in the pelagic net out in the open sea between Spilzbergen and E. Greenland (75° 37' N. L., 6° 4' W. L.). It was n mm. 

 long, thus long past the pelagic stage, and cannot have arrived here as floating larva. I imagine, that mussels have been 

 attached by the byssus to the sides of the ship or algae growing there ; by the rubbing of the ice against the ship the 

 mussel has been torn off and come by chance into the net towed behind the ship. — Cf. N. Hartz' report, that on the 

 same Exped. he obtained numerous small algae in the net, especially when the ice was dense (Medd. om Gronland, XVII, 

 1896, p. 3S7, note). 



