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Phylum Mollusca > Class Bivalvia > Family Mytilidae
Green mussel
Perna viridis
Family Mytilidae
updated Dec 08
if you learn only 3 things about them ...
It is among our favourite seafood. But be careful about eating wild caught mussels.
It attaches itself to a hard surface by producing threads!
It is considered a pest outside its natural range.

Where seen? This edible clam is sometimes very common on our Northern shores, crowding any hard surface: rocks, pilings, floats. It is well adapted to waters that are murky and sediment laden.

Features: 5-8cm. The two-part shell is thin, smooth and usually brownish edged in green. The animal attaches to hard surfaces with byssus threads, usually in clusters of many individuals.


Human uses: Green mussels are farmed in many parts of Southeast Asia as seafood. They grow fast and in dense numbers. Like other filter-feeding clams, however, mussels may be affected by red tide and other harmful algal blooms. During such times, the mussels concentrate toxins and people who eat them may get seriously ill.

Outside its natural range of the Asia-Pacific region, the Green mussel is considered an introduced pest and an unwelcome invasive species. There, unchecked by natural predators, the mussels multiply rapidly and clog industrial pipes, foul aquaculture and disturb local ecosystems.

Growing on a large boulder.
Changi, Jan 04

Tiny green mussels
growing with tinier Nest mussels.
Pulau Sekudu, Jul 07

Growing in cracks of boulder.
Pulau Sekudu, Mar 07

Tiny ones among barnacles on a pillar.
Chek Jawa, Oct 07

Green mussels on Singapore shores

Pasir Ris, Dec 08

Keppel Bay, Oct 09


Chek Jawa, Dec 03

Pulau Ubin, Jun 08

Pulau Sekudu, Dec 03


Chek Jawa, Jan 07

Changi, Jun 05

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