The Exotics Guide

Musculista senhousia (Benson in Cantor, 1842)

GREEN BAGMUSSEL, GREEN MUSSEL, SENHOUSE'S MUSSEL, JAPANESE MUSSEL, ASIAN DATE MUSSEL

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Bivalvia
Subclass: Pteriomorpha
Order: Mytiloida
Family: Mytilidae

Musculista senhousia is a small olive-green, yellow-green or greenish-brown mussel, which grows to a maximum length of 35 mm. There are pale purple stripes radiating from the center of growth out to the hind margin of the shell, mainly on the upper hind diagonal half of the shell; and often there are dark purple-brown, wavy or zigzag, concentric lines or arcs surrounding the center of growth.

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Musculista senhousia

Green Bagmussel

Andrew N. Cohen

Musculista senhousia from San Francisco Bay. Note the shell’s green tint, faint purple radiating lines, and dark purple-brown, wavy, concentric lines.

Anthony Fisher

Another specimen from San Francisco Bay. This one lacks the dark, wavy, concentric lines, and the radiating lines are pale purple against a greenish-yellow and brown background. Note the very slightly concave lower edge of the shell, at left.

California Academy of Sciences

Musculista senhousia from San Francisco Bay, with its siphons extended upward from the hind end of shell, and its long foot extended to the lower left corner of the image.

Andrew N. Cohen

A mat of Musculista senhousia, within a bed of the larger bay mussel (Mytilus trossulus-galloprovincialis complex) on the east shore of San Francisco Bay.

Andrew N. Cohen

Closeup of the Musculista senhousia mat. A few anemones (Diadumene lineata) attached to the mussels are visible at the left and lower right.

Urosalpinx cinerea Image 10

Urosalpinx cinerea shells collected on San Francisco Bay shores, showing different amounts of wear and bleaching.

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Urosalpinx cinerea Image 9

Urosalpinx cinerea with an anemone (Diadumene lineata) growing on it.

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Urosalpinx cinerea Image 7

A clam (Venerupis philippinarum) with a hole bored part way through its shell by Urosalpinx cinerea. The snail has pulled its foot into its shell and nearly closed its aperture with an orange operculum. The hole near the rim of the clam’s shell, just to the right of the snail.

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