How do green-lipped mussels reproduce?
Professor Andrew Jeffs, of Leigh Marine Laboratory, demonstrates how male and female green-lipped mussels differ in appearance and explains that they release eggs and sperm into the water to mate. When larvae reach about half a millimetre in size, they prepare to ‘settle’ (attach to a surface).
How do you tell if a mussel is male or female?
Once opened, you can tell the gender of the mussel by the colour of the meat: males are pale, females are orange. Look for rope-grown, rather than dredged mussels. As the name suggests, these are cultivated by dangling a rope into the sea from a buoy or raft, on to which either wild or harvested spat settle.
What is the lifespan of a mussel?
Most mussels live around 60 to 70 years in good habitat. FEEDING: Mussels feed by filtering algae, bacteria, phytoplankton and other small particles out of the water column. They are in turn preyed upon by fish, reptiles, amphibians, birds and mammals.
Where are green-lipped mussels farmed?
New Zealand
Green-lipped mussels are New Zealand’s major aquaculture species. Explore how green-lipped mussels are farmed in New Zealand, the way that the industry has developed and the challenges that mussel farmers face.
How do you dissect freshwater mussels?
Dissection of Reproductive System: They occupy the same relative positions. Give an incision on the skin of the visceral mass dorsal to the middle of the foot. Hold the skin with a pair of forceps and carefully separate it from the underlying mass with a sharp scalpel, working dorsally, anteriorly and posteriorly.
How do mussels move?
Mussels spend most of their life in a small area of the lake or stream bed that they inhabit. However, they do have the ability to move around with the use of their muscular foot. Mussels insert their “foot” into the sand or gravel and pull themselves forward, inching their way along the bottom.
How long do mussels live out of water?
Adult mussels can survive out of water – less than five days in dry conditions, but up to 21 days in very wet conditions (such as inside dock/lift pipes).