A Study of the Sea Mussel (Mytilus Edulis Linn.) 
BEssiIE K. E. Mossop, M.A. 
Department of Hygiene, University of Toronto. 
In 1917 the writer began a study of the growth of the sea mussel (Mytilus 
edulis, Linn.) primarily with the object of discovering the commercial possibilities 
of the mussels of our Atlantic coast. The investigation was conducted chiefly 
on the mussels of the St. Andrew’s region, New Brunswick, with the Marine 
Biological Station, St. Andrews as a base, but brief surveys were also made of the 
beds at Digby, Nova Scotia, and at Grand Manan Island, Bay of Fundy. A 
very limited number of shells from Hudson’s Bay were also examined. 
The problem soon presented five main aspects, viz., (1) the distribution of 
the beds and the size and number of mussels in them; (2) the age of the animals 
forming the beds; (3) the enemies which prey on them; (4) the factors governing 
their rate of growth; (5) the factors governing their distribution. 
SECTION TE 
DISTRIBUTION. 
1. DISTRIBUTION IN ST. ANDREWS REGION. 
The early explorers (Ganong 1887 and 1889) of New Brunswick have left 
some references to the natural history of the region which are of interest when 
considering the mussel. Jacques Cartier was the first explorer of the coast of 
Acadia who paid any attention to the animals and plants of the places he visited, 
but he does not mention any invertebrates. The first published reference to 
the invertebrates occurs in Lescarbot’s ‘“‘ History of New France’’ 1609 in which, 
when describing Champlain’s voyage, he mentions the abundance of mussels 
at St. Croix Island (now known as Dochet Island) and Port Royal. Champlain 
in writing of his own voyage (‘‘Les Voyages du Sieur de Champlain,” published 
at Paris 1613) mentions finding in 1604, cockles, mussels, sea-urchins and sea- 
snails at St. Croix Island. He mentions also the occurrence at the present 
Weymouth Harbour, St. Mary Bay, Nova Scotia, of many shell fish, such as 
mussels, cockles and sea-snails. Another nteresting early reference is that of 
Nicholas Denys, who, in his ‘‘Description Géographique et Historique des 
Cotes de l’Amérique Septentrionale,’”’ published at Paris in 1672, mentions 
the abundance of shell-fish (coquillages) upon the north shore of New Brunswick 
and of oysters (huistres) at Cocagne. During the eighteenth century nothing 
worthy of note appears to have been written on this subject. In the early half 
of the nineteenth century several lists of mollusca were published, but these were 
lists for travellers rather than scientific publications, and show signs of being 
copied one from another. The chief lists were: Robert Cooney (1832); Rev. C. 
Atkinson (1847); C. L. Hathaway (1846); Abraham Gesner (1847) (this list 
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