California Mussel
Mytilus californianus
Mollusca
COMMON
Stats
- Lifespan
- 10-20 yrs
- Size
- Large
- Diet
- Filter Feeder
- Activity
- Cathemeral
- Social
- Colony
- Biome
- Rocky intertidal
- Range
- North America
- Movement
- Sessile
- Breeding
- Egg-laying
- Defense
- Armor
- Status
- Common
About
The California Mussel clings to wave-battered Pacific rocks using a bundle of protein threads called a byssus, strong enough to survive direct surf impacts. Dense mussel beds act as a keystone structure, sheltering hundreds of other invertebrate species within their shells and gaps.
Life cycle
- 1.juvenileA juvenile mollusk takes adult form after its larval phase and begins building or growing its shell.
- 2.adultFully grown at adult shell size or body length.
Learn more
Taxonomy
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Mollusca
- Class
- Bivalvia
- Order
- Mytilida
- Family
- Mytilidae
- Genus
- Mytilus
- Species
- Mytilus californianus