146 ANIMALS OF THE SEASHORE 



This scallop was formerly of considerable eco- 

 nomic importance in New Jersey; however, the num- 

 ber of scallops has steadily decreased, and now al- 

 though the shells are frequently found on the beach, 

 they do not occur in commercial numbers at many 

 places within the state. 



It is only the muscle that connects the two shells 

 of the scallop that is eaten and this is usually con- 

 sidered very delicious. 



The scallop is one of the few bivalves that is 

 able to swim through the water. By means of quick- 

 ly opening and closing its shell it is able to make 

 fairly good progress. 



It is also one of the few bivalves equipped with 

 good eyes (ocelli). These small black dots can be 

 seen lining the margin of the shell. 



The scallop lives in shallow water and is often 

 very common on mud flats. Various varieties have 

 been described from different parts of the East Coast, 

 differentiated by the number of ribs, convexity 

 of the shell and other minor variations. The color of 

 irradians varies from white to brown. The black 

 scallop shells occasionally found on certain beaches 

 are probably fossils redeposited from some nearby 

 Pleistocene formation. 



Pecten grandis Sollander 



(Sea Scallop; Giant Scallop) 

 (P. magellanica Gmelin; P. tenuicostoda Mighells) 



PLATE XVII. Fig. 3 



Much larger than the Bay Scallop and with 

 much finer ridges; reaches a length of almost 6 

 inches; upper valve brown, lower one white; this 

 scallop is fairly common north of Cape Cod, especial- 

 ly on Georges Bank, where it is dredged by the com- 



