NATURALIST'S 



NOTEBOOK 



Beautiful Bountiful 

 Bay Scallops 



W 



w ¥ ith its gracefully flared 

 shells and tiny, sapphire-blue eyes, the 

 Atlantic bay scallop is a royal celebrity 

 among mollusks. It also distinguishes itself 

 from most bivalves by living at the bottom 

 of dense beds of sea grass instead of 

 burrowing into sand like a clam. 



"Because the bay scallop lives in sea- 

 grass beds, it can only be found in two 

 Southeastern states — North Carolina and 

 Florida," says Trish Murphy, a biologist 

 with the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries. 

 "Florida doesn't allow the commercial 

 harvest of bay scallops." 



In North Carolina, the bay scallop or 

 "of blue eyes" can be found in Core and 

 Bogue sounds. 



When fishing for bay scallops in 

 North Carolina, people can hand-rake, 

 scoop or drag a toothless scallop dredge 

 through sea-grass beds from January to 

 May. There is also a short season in 

 December. 



Although there has been no reported 

 loss of sea grass in North Carolina, 

 researchers have reported a decline due to 

 pollution and disease in the Chesapeake 

 Bay and other bodies of water. In North 

 Carolina, there are two species of sea grass 

 — eelgrass and shoal grass. 



"Sea grass is an important nursery in 

 North Carolina because it provides a 

 habitat for young fish, shrimp, clams and 

 molting blue crabs," says Murphy. 'To 

 protect sea grass, North Carolina has 

 closed off all sea-grass beds to mechanical 

 shellfish harvesting and some beds to 

 trawling since the 1970s." 



In 1997, North Carolina had the 



By Ann Green 



Atlantic Bay Scallop 



largest dockside landings of bay scallops 

 along the East Coast, harvesting 63,800 

 pounds worth about $214,000, according 

 to the National Marine Fisheries Services. 

 "Bay scallops are an important fishery for 

 Carteret County," adds Murphy. 



The tasty bay scallop also has a long 

 history in the arts. Because of its graceful 

 shell, Greeks and Romans memorialized 

 the shell in one of their myths, the story of 

 the birth of Venus. The goddess of love 

 and beauty sprang full-grown from a 

 scallop shell. Medieval and Renaissance 

 artists and craftsmen also used the scallop 

 shell over and over in their work. 



In North Carolina, the scallop's shells 

 can be found in and along the banks of 

 Core and Bogue sounds. The shell, which 

 is similar in shape and sculpturing to the 

 Atlantic calico scallop, has 15 to 22 

 smooth radial ribs. It comes in shades of 

 gray, brown and black, with the upper 

 valve having the most color. 



Inside its cover, the scallop has large, 

 white adductor muscles that rapidly open 

 and close its valves, ejecting water around 

 the hinge. The adductor muscle is eaten by 

 humans. Around the edge of the mantle — 

 the layer of tissue that secretes the shell — 

 is a series of 100 blue eyes that detect 

 approaching predatory snails or starfish. 

 After eyeing its predators, the bivalve 

 snaps its shells and leaps away. 



Like clams and other bivalve 

 mollusks, bay scallops feed by filtering 

 their food from the water. As they sit on 

 the bottom of sea-grass beds, tiny hairs in 

 their gills create a current that passes 

 through the gills. The scallops extract the 

 oxygen they need from the moving water 

 and also filter out the phytoplankton and 

 other minute plants. The current brings in 

 some sand, but by shutting their shells, the 

 scallops can expel the grit. 



The bay scallop carries both male and 

 female organs. Spawning takes place at 

 about six months, when the scallop emits 

 eggs and sperm into the water. For the first 

 two weeks, the young are in a larval form, 

 floating from place to place before settling 

 in the grass beds. The bivalve's life 

 expectancy is about two years. 



"For the bay scallops to continue to 

 thrive in North Carolina, fishers may need 

 to be careful not to disturb sea-grass beds 

 when fishing for scallops," says Murphy. 

 "Also, people must avoid polluting the 

 water." □ 



A helpful source of information for 

 this article was Wildlife in North Carolina 

 "Nature's Way," 1982. 



COASTWATCH 31 



