NO. I (1917) 



EDIBLE MOLLUSCS 



5 



Throughout South Malabar the ^reen mussel is usually termed 

 Kadiika which appears to be a corruption of Kadalkai (" sea-fruit ") 

 by which name it is known amongst better educated people ; in 

 Cochin this same shellfish is known as Nilakdkka, the " long kakka," 

 in contradistinction to the ordinary Kakka which is the common 

 backwater clam {Mcretrix casta ovum). 



Mytihts swaragdi)ius, although so widely distributed, is found 

 in large quantity only on the west coast from South Kanara to the 

 northern part of Travancore. Within these boundaries, wherever 

 rocks are found inside of the three-fathom line, the green mussel 



Fig. I. — Tjik Grekn Musskl. Xf. 



usually finds conditions favourable and covers all exposed rocky 

 surfaces and the walls of all crannies with its closely set 

 multitudes. Wherever it is found, it is accompanied by edible 

 oysters — chiefly Ostrea virgiiiiana ; we can clearly distinguish an 

 O. virgi)iiana — M. sniaragdiiius formation in such situations on both 

 the east and west coasts. The rocky coast of South Kanara from 

 Gangoli to Kap, and that stretch of the Malabar coast from Eli 

 Mala to Kadalundi are the two localities where conditions are most 

 favourable for its growth ; these localities produce the great bulk 

 of the mussels consumed in these two districts. The south section 

 of Malabar is too sandy and rockless to give foothold and few 

 mussels are fished there. 



The collection of mussels is a minor marine industry of some 

 importance at several places, especially in the neighbourhood of 

 Cannanore, Tellicherry, Mahe and Calicut, and also in Travancore. 



