Scallops

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Scallops

• By John Monahan

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Scallops are marine mollusks of the family
Pectinadae. They are bivalve which means they
have two shells hinged together that open and
close.
The name scallop is used to describe its rigid
shell pattern and the fanned shape of the shell
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Physical Characteristics

• Bivalve
• Contains an adductor muscle
• Active Swimmers

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Scallops are cosmopolitan. Eighty percent of the
worlds scallops are off the coast of China. Most
are free swimming but others attach themselves to
hard substrate by cementing themselves.
Most scallops live on the rocky bottom in salt
water
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Scallops filter feed. They eat mostly plankton.
They grow up to 5 inches in size and can live up
to 20 years. They are plankton when they are
first born and then sink to the bottom as they
get bigger.
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Predators

• Lobsters
• Crabs
• Fish
• Sea stars
• Humans

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Scallops reproduce when spermatozoa and ova are
released freely into the water during mating
season. Scallops can be male female or both. Some
switch as they grow. Their age can be found by
the amount of rings of their shell.