Modiolus modiolus

• Common Names
• Description
• Biology
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• More Info
• Further Reading
• Notes

Common Names

Description

Physical Description

Habitat

Muddy bottoms with shell hash. Depth Range : Usually subtidal . Occasionally intertidal (mostly on the underside of rocks)[1]

Typically found in the intertidal zone at the water's edge at a mean distance from sea level of -4 meters (-12 feet).[2]

Ecology: May have a symbiont , the pea crabs Fabia subquadrata or Opisthopus transversus.[1]

Biology

Diet

[Migration]

Behavior

M. modiolus tends to form aggregates attached to one another and to empty shells .[1]

Predators:

Predators include the sunflower star Pycnopodia helianthoides.[1]

Taxonomy

Unambiguous Synonyms

1. Modiolus kurilensis Bernard, 1983

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name . Latest taxonomic scrutiny: 13-Mar-2003.

Similar Species

M. rectus is about 3x as long as wide and not likely found north of California. M. senshousia is smaller--up to 3 cm long and its periostracum is greenish. (Ref. 109953)

Members of the genus Modiolus

There are approximately 132 species in this genus. Here are just 100 of them:

M. adriaticus · M. adriaticus ovalis · M. aequalis · M. agglutinans · M. agripetus · M. albicostata · M. albicostatus · M. albicostus · M. ameghinoi · M. americana · M. americanus (American Horsemussel) · M. aratus · M. arborescens · M. arcuatula · M. areolatus · M. auriculatus · M. aurum · M. ausiensis · M. australis · M. barbatellus · M. barbatus (Bearded Horse Mussel) · M. bipartitus · M. brasiliensis · M. braziliensis · M. bukharensis · M. capax (Fat Horsemussel) · M. capitatus · M. carpenteri (California Horsemussel) · M. carvalhoi · M. cercadicus · M. chejsleveemensis · M. chiesai · M. coloradoensis · M. comptus · M. copax · M. coralliophagus · M. cottoni · M. cylindricus · M. demissus · M. demissus granosissimus · M. difficilis · M. directus · M. ducatelli · M. ducatellii · M. eiseni (Eisen Horsemussel) · M. elegans · M. elongatus · M. falcatus · M. flabellatus · M. flavida · M. flavidus · M. fornicatus · M. fusca · M. gabbi subconvexus · M. hanleyi · M. hannonicus · M. harrimani · M. hillana · M. hillanus · M. imbricatus · M. incrassatus · M. leckenbyi · M. ligneus · M. lithophaga · M. maedae · M. martorelli · M. matris · M. meeki · M. metcalfei · M. metcalfi · M. micropterus · M. minimus · M. minutus · M. modiolus (Kurilean Horse Mussel) · M. modiolus difficilis · M. modiolus modiolus · M. modiolus squamosus · M. neglectus (Neglected Horsemussel) · M. neozelandic · M. neozelanicus · M. nipponicus · M. nitens · M. ornatus · M. paroni · M. patagonicus · M. peasi · M. peronianus · M. phaseolina · M. phaseolinus · M. philippinarum · M. plicatulus · M. plicatus · M. plumescens · M. politus · M. proclivis · M. pseudotulipus · M. pulex · M. pulvillus · M. pygmaeus · M. radiatus

More Info

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Further Reading

• A biological survey of the waters of Woods Hole and vicinity / By Francis B. Sumner, Raymond C. Osburn, and Leon J. Cole. Washington: Govt. Print. Off., 1913 ENG url p. 139, p. 146, p. 148, p. 149, p. 346, p. 60, p. 604, p. 605, p. 65, p. 66, p. 674, p. 68, p. 682, p. 683, p. 71, p. 73, p. 75, p. 760, p. 8, p. 850.
• Abbott, R.T., 1974, American Seashells, 2nd.ed., pg.435.
• Agriculture of Maine: annual report of the Commissioner of Agriculture of the State of Maine. Augusta: [State of Maine, Dept. of Agriculture, 1903-1940.] ENG url p. 223.
• American seashells. With illus. by Frederick M. Bayer. New York, Van Nostrand[1954] ENG url p. 351.
• An ecological characterization of Coastal Maine (north and east of Cape Elizabeth) / Stewart I. Fefer and Patricia S. Schettig: principal investigators. Newton Corner, Mass.: Department of the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Northeast Region, 1980. ENG url p. 78, p. 83, p. 93.
• Animals of the seashore, by Horace G. Richards. Boston, B. Humphries, inc.[c1938] ENG url p. 150, p. 176, p. 270.
• Benthic productivity and marine resources of the Gulf of Maine / Ivar Babb and Michael De Luca, editors. [Rockville, MD] (6010 Executive Blvd., Suite 805, Rockville 20852): U.S. Dept of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, Office of Undersea Research, [1988] ENG url p. 168, p. 99.
• Bibliographia zoologica. Leipzig: Wilhelm Engelmann, 1896-1934. MUL url p. 121, p. 229.
• Bio-ecology, by Frederic E. Clements and Victor E. Shelford New York, J. Wiley and Sons, inc.;1939. ENG url p. 245.
• Biological survey of the Mount Desert Region, conducted by William Procter... From the Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory, Mount Desert Island, Maine. Philadelphia, The Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology, 1927-1946. ENG url p. 169.
• Biology of the seas of the U.S.S.R. Translated by S. Botcharskaya. New York, Interscience Publishers[1963] ENG url p. 710, p. 813, p. 894, p. 918.
• Bulletin - United States National Museum. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, [etc.];1877-1971. ENG url p. 155, p. 208, p. 21, p. 280, p. 350, p. 603.
• Bulletin / Peabody Museum of Natural History. New Haven: The Museum, ENG url p. 130, p. 146.
• Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History). London: BM(NH) url p. 110, p. 111, p. 136, p. 157, p. 233, p. 266, p. 267.
• Bulletin of the Brooklyn Conchological Club. Brooklyn, N.Y.: The Club, [1907] ENG url p. 9.
• Bulletin of the United States Fish Commission. Washington, The Commission, Govt. Print. Off. ENG url p. 128, p. 129, p. 244, p. 258.
• Bulletins of American paleontology. Ithaca, N.Y., Paleontological Research Institution [etc.] ENG url p. 100, p. 557.
• Carotenoids, their comparative biochemistry. New York, Chemical Pub. Co., 1954. ENG url p. 175.
• Carrington, Emily, Gretchen M. Moeser, Sean B. Thompson, Laura C. Coutts, and Carrie A. Craig, 2008. Mussel attachment on rocky shores: the effect of flow on byssus production. Integrative and Comparative Biology 48:6 pp 801-807
• East coast marine shells: descriptions of shore mollusks together with many living below tide mark, from Maine to Texas inclusive, especially Florida, with more than one thousand drawings and photographs / by Maxwell Smith. Ann Arbor, Mich.: Edwards Brothers, 1951, [c1937] ENG url p. 172.
• East coast marine shells; descriptions of shore mollusks together with many living below tide mark, from Maine to Texas inclusive, especially Florida. Ann Arbor, Mich., Edwards Brothers, Inc.[c1937] ENG url p. 172.
• Environmental benchmark studies in Casco Bay, Portland Harbor, Maine, April 1980 / Peter F. Larsen, Anne C. Johnson, and Lee F. Doggett. Woods Hole, Mass.: U.S. Dept. of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service, Northeast Fisheries Center; 1983. ENG url p. 119, p. 121, p. 127, p. 129, p. 134, p. 136, p. 142, p. 166, p. 167, p. 168, p. 55, p. 97.
• Fauna of New England. Boston, Printed for the [Boston] Society [of Natural History] from the Gurdon Saltonstall Fund, 1904-25. ENG url p. 33.
• Fishery bulletin / U.S. Dept. of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service. Washington, D.C.: The Service: ENG url p. 1000, p. 1001, p. 230, p. 406, p. 580, p. 583, p. 898, p. 9, p. 996, p. 997.
• Fishery bulletin of the Fish and Wildlife Service. Washington, The Service, U.S. Govt Print. Off. ENG url p. 159, p. 199, p. 207.
• Fishery circular / U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Fisheries. [Washington]: The Bureau, 1931-1939. ENG url p. 44.
• How to collect shells, a symposium. Marinette, Wis.]1961. ENG url p. 37, p. 39.
• Journal of entomology and zoology. Claremont, Calif., U.S.A.: Pomona College Dept. of Zoology, [1913- ENG url p. 107.
• Journal of shellfish research. [S.l.: National Shellfisheries Association, 1981- url p. 10, p. 104, p. 108, p. 1084, p. 1086, p. 111, p. 119, p. 138, p. 1487, p. 1489, p. 157, p. 159, p. 167, p. 170, p. 179, p. 201, p. 203, p. 211, p. 213, p. 215, p. 216, p. 231, p. 232, p. 291, p. 336, p. 357, p. 358, p. 362, p. 376, p. 377, p. 380, p. 384, p. 419, p. 449, p. 459, p. 471, p. 477, p. 485, p. 486, p. 57, p. 578, p. 60, p. 61, p. 62, p. 623, p. 624, p. 628, p. 64, p. 645, p. 673, p. 91, p. 91, p. 92, p. 943.
• Local races and clines in the marine gastropod Thais lamellosa Gmelin, a population study. Seattle, The Galliostoma Co., 1957. ENG url p. 32.
• Marine and estuarine environments, organisms, and geology of the Cape Cod region; an indexed bibliography, 1665-1965 [by] Anne E. Yentsch [and others. Woods Hole, Mass., Systematics Ecology Program, Marine Biological Laboratory[c1966] ENG url p. 113, p. 126, p. 146.
• Marine flora and fauna of the northeastern United States, Crustacea: Decapoda / Austin B. Williams. Seattle: U.S. Dept. of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service; 1974. ENG url p. 44.
• Memoirs of the Nuttall Ornithological Club. Cambridge, Mass.: The Club, 1886- ENG url p. 19, p. 343.
• Memoirs of the San Diego Society of Natural History. San Diego, Calif.: The Society, 1931- ENG url p. 249.
• Mussel watch worldwide literature survey - 1991 / Adriana Y. Cantillo. Rockville, Md.: U.S. Dept. of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Ocean Service, [1991] ENG url p. 123, p. 139, p. 4, p. 78.
• NOAA technical report NMFS SSRF. Seattle, Wash.: National Marine Fisheries Service; ENG url p. 6.
• Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Boston: Metcalf and Co., 1846-1958 ENG url p. 452.
• Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, 4th series. San Francisco, California Academy of Sciences. ENG url p. 244, p. 562.
• Proceedings of the National Shellfisheries Association. Plymouth, Mass., Published for the National Shellfisheries Association by MPG Communications. ENG url p. 11, p. 12, p. 31, p. 34, p. 50, p. 51, p. 83, p. 86, p. 92.
• Proceedings of the United States National Museum. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, [etc.] ENG url p. 4.
• Protozoology. Springfield, Ill., C. C. Thomas[1954] ENG url p. 777, p. 945.
• Publications - Puget Sound Biological Station. [Seattle?]Puget Sound Biological Station, University of Washington. ENG url p. 168, p. 176.
• Quantitative composition and distribution of the macrobenthic invertebrate fauna of the continental shelf ecosystems of the northeastern United States / Roger B. Theroux, Roland L. Wigley. Seattle, Wash.: U.S. Dept. of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service, Scientific Publications Office; [1998] ENG url p. 126, p. 217, p. 219.
• Résultats des campagnes scientifiques accomplies sur son yacht par Albert Ier, prince souverain de Monaco [Monaco]Impr. de Monaco, 1889-19 FRE url p. 618.
• Report of the Commissioner - United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries. Washington, The Commission; U.S. Govt. Print. Off. ENG url p. 309.
• Special scientific report. Seattle, National Marine Fisheries Service; for sale by the Supt. of Docs., U.S. Govt. Print. Off., 1949-1971. ENG url p. 42, p. 46, p. 49, p. 51, p. 67, p. 68.
• Symposium on information theory in biology, Gatlinburg, Tennessee, October 29-31, 1956. Edited by Hubert P. Yockey with the assistance of Robert L. Platzman [and] Henry Quastler. New York, Pergamon Press, Symposium Publications Division[1958] ENG url p. 215.
• The Biological bulletin. Woods Hole, Mass.: Marine Biological Laboratory, ENG url p. 136, p. 139, p. 157, p. 160, p. 163, p. 166, p. 167, p. 171, p. 259, p. 26, p. 260, p. 288, p. 296, p. 296, p. 298, p. 298, p. 299, p. 300, p. 300, p. 301, p. 310, p. 315, p. 320, p. 323, p. 325, p. 326, p. 327, p. 328, p. 329, p. 330, p. 331, p. 334, p. 344, p. 348, p. 349, p. 350, p. 351, p. 353, p. 355, p. 357, p. 360, p. 361, p. 365, p. 373, p. 415, p. 422, p. 56, p. 58, p. 59, p. 60, p. 615, p. 708, p. 722, p. 85.
• The Nautilus. [Melbourne, Fla., etc., American Malacologists, inc., etc.] ENG url p. 10, p. 101, p. 102, p. 107, p. 113, p. 115, p. 120, p. 13, p. 130, p. 14, p. 15, p. 150, p. 16, p. 16, p. 17, p. 23, p. 24, p. 35, p. 43, p. 47, p. 50, p. 57, p. 60, p. 67, p. 67, p. 72, p. 91, p. 97, p. 98.
• The edible clams, mussels and scallops of California / by Frank W. Weymouth. Sacramento: California State Printing Office, 1920. ENG url p. 27.
• The sessile barnacles (Cirripedia) contained in the collections of the U. S. National museum; including a monograph of the American species, by Henry A. Pilsbry. Washington, Govt. print. off., 1916. ENG url p. 153, p. 155, p. 208.
• Transactions of the San Diego Society of Natural History. [San Diego]: The Society, 1905- ENG url p. 387.
• Type specimens of marine mollusca described by P. P. Carpenter from the west coast (San Diego to British Columbia) [New York, Geological Society of America]1958. ENG url p. 73.
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Notes

Contributors

• Bisby, F.A., Y.R. Roskov, M.A. Ruggiero, T.M. Orrell, L.E. Paglinawan, P.W. Brewer, N. Bailly, J. van Hertum, eds (2007). Species 2000 and ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2007 Annual Checklist. Species 2000: Reading, U.K.
• Cowles, Dave. Key to Invertebrates Found At or Near The Rosario Beach Marine Laboratory (a campus of Walla Walla University) Fidalgo Island, Anacortes, WA.
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed December 12, 2007. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from 2 providers.

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal November 17, 2007:

• Academy of Natural Sciences, Academy of Natural Sciences Malacology Database
• Academy of Natural Sciences, Academy of Natural Sciences OBIS Mollusc Database [Darwin Core]
• Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, A comparison of benthic biodiversity in the North Sea, English Channel and Celtic Seas
• Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, Atlantic Reference Centre
• Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, Bay of Fundy Species List
• Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, BioMar
• Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, Gwaii Haanas Invertebrates
• Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, Histroical benthic dredge samples from the southern baltic and the North Sea
• Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, MICROBIS database
• Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, Macrobel: Long term trends in the macrobenthos of the Belgian Continental Shelf
• Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, NBI
• Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, Natural Geography In Shore Areas
• Dataset
• Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, SeamountsOnline
• Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, Taxonomic Information Sytem for the Belgian coastal area
• International Census of Marine Microbes, MICROBIS database
• Marine Science Institute, UCSB, Paleobiology Database
• NLBIF, Zoological Museum Amsterdam - Noordzee
• National Chemical Laboratory, IndOBIS, Indian Ocean Node of OBIS
• The Danish Biodiversity Information Facility, Marine Benthic Fauna List, Læsø, Denmark
• The Swedish Museum of Natural History
• , Bugs
• The Swedish Museum of Natural History
• , Invertebrates
• UK National Biodiversity Network, Marine Biological Association - Marine Life Survey Data
• collated by MarLIN
• UK National Biodiversity Network, Marine Biological Association - Marine survey data
• held by MarLIN.
• University of Alaska Museum of the North, University of Alaska Museum of the North Mollusc Collection

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 2692162
• Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: ITS-79501
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 13782571
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 705155

Footnotes

1. Cowles, Dave. Key to Invertebrates Found At or Near The Rosario Beach Marine Laboratory (a campus of Walla Walla University) Fidalgo Island, Anacortes, WA May 2009. [back]
2. Standard Deviation = 426.530 based on 3,026 observations. Terrestrial altitude and ocean depth information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]

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