618 HISTOEY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. 



objects which rapidly develop into something recognizable, and when only about the size of the 

 head of a pin attach themselves in myriads to weeds and other objects, living or dead, near 

 shore. In this condition they furnish food to a large number of rapacious animals, but grow with 

 such celerity that those which survive attain their full size and armor in two seasons, or, under the 

 most favorable auspices, even in one year. 



Associated with the Mytilus edulis, and of like habits in general, are two other widely diffused 

 species, the big "horse mussel" (Modiola modiolus) and the ribbed mussel (Modiola plicatula). 



The former of these two is Arctic in its range, and rarely seen south of New Jersey on our 

 coast, or Great Britain arid France, in Europe. Fond of the deeper water it is to be looked for, 

 according to Verrill, " at extreme low- water mark in the crevices between the rocks, and usually 

 nearly buried in the gravel and firmly anchored in its place. Sometimes it occurs in the larger pools, 

 well down toward low -water mark, * * * and, although it is almost entirely confined to rocky 

 shores and bottoms, it extends to considerable depths, for we dredged it abundantly in the Bay of 

 Fundy, at various depths, down to 70 fathoms." It is larger and heavier than the common mussel, 

 being 6 inches in length sometimes. Generally lacking anything like the pretty radiating lines 

 which adorn the mytilus, this mussel is covered with chestnut-black glossy coat, rudely haired 

 towards the tip. It will easily be distinguished. 



Modiola nigra is a rare form occasionally washed up on our northern shores by storms. It 

 lives in the deep sea. 



Modiola plicatula, on the other hand, belongs to high-water mark, clinging to rocks exposed 

 more than half the time in many cases by the receding of the tide. It is very abundant in Long 

 Island and New Jersey, along the muddy borders of the marshes and banks and among the roots 

 of grass. In the brackish tide-streams that indent the coast, and in the drains through the salt 

 marshes, these ribbed mussels are found crowded in among the stones, or embedded in the 

 peat-like soil of the banks near high-water mark. "In this position, with the upper posterior 

 portion slightly exposed, they crowd in such numbers as to form a complete stratum from 6 to 

 12 inches in thickness. A great portion of the time they are, of course, out of water ; but they 

 retain enough to serve the demands of their economy during the recess of the tide, and eject it 

 when any disturbance prompts them to close the shell." 



A closely allied species, the Modiola hamatus, is occasionally met with, especially on oyster 

 beds, adhering to the shells, where it is sometimes very abundant. It has been introduced with 

 the oysters, from the south, where it is common. It somewhat resembles the preceding species, 

 but it is shorter, broader, with strong radiating ribs, many of which are forked. Its color is 

 yellow or yellowish brown, from which fact it gets the popular name of " yellow mussel." It belongs 

 naturally to the Gulf of Mexico and the southern Atlantic coast from Florida to Delaware, but 

 is so thoroughly introduced into New Jersey that, as Professor Lockwood informs me, it grows 

 abundantly through the sedges along the southern coast of that State, and serves as "stools" for 

 the young wild oysters. In New York Bay these shells exist in considerable quantities, but do 

 not multiply, and unless re-enforced by constant accessions from the Chesapeake Bay, brought by 

 the oystermen, would speedily disappear. 



The natural service rendered to the world by the race of mussels, so far as we can see, consists 

 in the resistance their well-knitted colonies oppose to the waves and currents, thus preventing 

 largely the wear and tear of certain portions of coast ; in the fact that the highly useful oyster 

 often finds a lodgment for his young on their shells when otherwise they would perish ; and in 

 the food which they supply to marine animals of various kinds. 



Seals, particularly in babyhood or youth, subsist largely upon mollusca, the most accessible 



