Yes, it is, our friend, the mussel. Picture: The Evergreen State College/Wikipedia.
Rough-looking, but the name is ... very goddess
Panopea generosa, also known as the elephant mussel, has its Chinese common name from the description of its elephant nose. Belonging to the genus Physalis of Physalis, the word "Panopea" of Physalis comes from ancient Greek mythology. She is the daughter of the Greek gods Thespius and Megamede, so the genus Physalis is also called the goddess, and the Pacific Physalis has a wonderful Chinese name: "elegant goddess clam".
The body structure, rainbow tube and foot mouth of Pacific mud clam (hereinafter referred to as mussel) can be sprayed with water. Photo: geoduck.org.
Pacific Submerged Clam, native to the North Pacific coast, is one of the largest known mud-dwelling bivalves. The two shells are equal in size, about 15 to 20cm long, and their siphons can be extended to more than 1 m at the longest, which looks like a trunk. The fat and stout "meat stick" is also the main edible part, and the maximum length of the mussel is about 4kg.
? The common English name of the mussel is Geoduck, which means "digging deep". As the name suggests, they like to inhabit the bottom of a muddy shallow sea or intertidal zone, and can bury themselves in the mud one meter deep, and exchange materials with the outside world by sticking out a thick siphon. When the mussel is young, it gradually embeds itself in the sediment by using the foot on the opposite side of the inlet and outlet pipe, because the foot of the mussel is highly degraded, and its proportion relative to the adult is small. Once it is "rooted", it cannot be "moved" again in adulthood.
? When the shell length is about 5 cm, the mussel seedlings have a strong ability to hide sand, and when the shell length is more than 15 cm, they lose their ability to move and hide sand, and live in caves all their lives. Photo: modernfarmer.com.
The mussel mainly feeds on unicellular algae, and can also filter sediment or organic debris. The breeding season is usually between April and July, and the number of eggs laid by individuals can reach tens of millions. In the first few years, the mussel grows rapidly, and its shell can grow to about15cm in four years. However, with the increase of age, the shell growth gradually slows down, and the soft part continues to grow. The elephant's nose can't shrink back into its shell, and it is a pillar of heaven, with the earth as its shell.
The larvae are very cute! Image: seagrant.noaa.go
The mussel is one of the longest-lived species in nature, with a life span of 100 years. The age of the mussel can be estimated from the fine growth ring on its shell. According to records, the longest-lived mussel found so far is 168 years old. There are few natural enemies of adult mussels, except for a few crabs, starfish and flounder, the biggest threat comes from unscrupulous fishing of human beings.
Capturing mussels is a manual job.
The elephant mussel is buried deep under the mud and sand, and it is a manual job to catch it. After people find the trace of the rainbow tube exposed from the mud, they will use the high-pressure water gun they carry with them to wash away the mud up to one meter thick above the mussel until the mussel is dug up. For the mussel that lives on the seabed, all this needs to be done under diving.