FOOD VALUE OF SEA MUSSELS. 
97 
no injury. Large numbers of periwinkles, Littorina litorea, are usually present on the 
beds, where, according to Allen and Todd (1902), by feeding upon the seaweed and 
thus keeping down the growing vegetation, they are a positive benefit to the mussel. 
distribution and habitat. 
The sea mussel has a very wide distribution, occupying most of the coast line of 
the northern half of the Northern Hemisphere. It is circumpolar in range and extends 
down our eastern coast to North Carolina, down the Pacific coast to San Francisco, 
Cal., on the Asiatic coast to Japan, and on the European coast southward to the Medi- 
terranean Sea. It is extremely abundant in the shallow, sheltered bays along the coasts 
of New Jersey, Long Island, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. 
The mussel seems to grow equally well in shallow and deep water. The bathy- 
metrical range is from the littoral zone to about 100 fathoms. In the channel between 
Eastport, Me., and Deer Island, Verrill and Smith (1873) dredged them in from 40 to 
50 fathoms and report that later their party dredged them in deeper water, but do not 
state from what depth. Some of the beds near Boston, Lynn, and Vineyard Sound 
lie in from 5 to 7 fathoms of water. 
The favorite habitat of the mussel is where the water is slightly brackish, in shallow, 
protected bays and estuaries, on a bottom of mud rich in diatoms and covered more or 
less with stones or other solid objects to which it may attach by means of its byssal 
threads. The swift tideways of shallow inlets are also very good situations for the 
mussel. In these localities it is generally distributed from halfway between tide 
marks to a level several feet below low water. Other situations chosen by the animal 
are the piles and timbers of bridges, wharfs, and other objects, buoys, light- vessels, 
and rocks. But these locations are not so advantageous as the first ones mentioned, 
where mussels thrive in enormous beds, sometimes acres in extent, and where it is 
possible for a man to collect them daily by the ton. 
PRESENT USES OF SEA MUSSELS. 
The sea mussel, which is practically unknown as a food in the United States outside 
of New York City, has been utilized in other parts of the world for hundreds of years. 
According to Ouatrefages (1854) the artificial culture of mussels for food began as early 
as the year 1035. Gould (1870) states that this shellfish is extensively used as a food in 
England, France, Norway, and Russia, and that it is more palatable than the common 
clam, Mya arenaria. Anderssen (1880) refers to it as a cheap and healthful food in 
America, France, Spain, and Portugal, where it is eaten raw with vinegar and pepper or 
boiled with milk. Goode (1884) writes that in Europe Mytilus holds an important place 
among the sea foods. Ganong (1889) says that as a food in Europe the mussel ranks 
second only to the oyster and takes the place of the soft-shelled clam, which is not 
eaten. This state of affairs we find at present reversed in America, where the soft- 
shelled clam is so popular that there is danger of the demand exceeding the supply, 
while the mussel, although exceedingly abundant, remains almost unutilized. 
48299° — Bull. 29 — 11 7 
