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Mussels 

1. Scientific name: Mytilus edulis

2. Common name: mussel

3. Distribution

Two economic mussel species, Mytilus edulis and M. galloprovincialis, are distributed widely in all parts of the world. The mussels found in Korea are M. edulis, M. coruscus, and Crenomytilus grayanus. Of them, former two species occupy the Korean waters and are cultured popularly in Korea.

4. Ecology and habitat

   The mussels are active filter feeders, feeding on suspended organic matters including detritus and planktonic algae. The mussels belonging to genus Mytilus are global species and habitat seas from tropical to polar. The habitats in a given place vary from upper limits of high tide to considerable depth below low tide.

5. Aquaculture

   The mussel culture in Korea was dominated by Mytilus coruscus until middle of 1960s, thereafter by M. edulis. The seed production depends on the availability of the wild seed or technology available, although the seed production of both species in the hatchery have been developed. For the seed production in the hatchery, the healthy spawners are brought in the hatchery and kept under water temperature of around 6 ℃. Because most of the spawners are stimulated by temperature 10℃ or over, keep the temperature is critical. When the spawners ripe enough, spawning can be induced by sudden raising of water temperature to 12∼16℃.

   The fertilized eggs are rinsed and moved to fertilization chambers and then to larval culture chambers. Normally the hatched larvae should be supplied from 4 days after hatching with favorable algal cultures such as Cyclotella nana, Chaeroceros calcitrans, and Monochrysis lutheri. The suggested algal concentrations differ with larval stage and with different algal species. For example, the suggested concentrations of Monochrysis lutheri are 10,000cell/mL for 130.2㎛ larvae (in shell length), 50,000cells/ml for 177.2㎛, and 100,000cells/ml for 234.8㎛ larvae. The seeds whether from hatchery or wild go to a longline culture system.