Posted   06/05/2022

Scallops are bivalve mollusks that live in shells.

A scallop swims by rapidly slapping its two valves together, creating a jet motion that can propel it several feet above the seafloor. They swim in spurts, usually flying for about twenty-five feet before landing. And, after four or five repetitions, they usually need to relax for a while.

Scallops also have a movement that is sometimes referred to as a “jump.” A scallop swims forward by taking in water through the front of its valves and ejecting it through small holes in its hinge. Its leaping causes them to travel backwards in little stages by allowing water to enter and exit through the valve openings.

The one spherical, meaty abductor muscle that controls the scallop’s hinge powers its swimming ability. Swimming valve shells are typically thin to save weight, though certain varieties feature prominent radial ribs.

Scallops typically reside on sand bottoms. They can attach themselves to rocks but can also disengage and swim to a different spot. Jet propulsion is also utilized as an escape reflex to evade potential predators such as starfish, snails, and fish. They feature a system of eyes along the edge of its shell that aid in the detection of predators. The importance of eyes is tied to scallops’ unique locomotion abilities among bivalves. According to new research, scallops may contain up to two hundred eyes at the tips of their tentacles, encompassing a 250-degree arc. “Most creatures, including humans, have lenses, but scallops do not.”

They have mirrors in the back of their eyes, as well as two retinas, one for darker objects and one for brighter things, which they may employ to detect movement. Perhaps they favor light regions because they give protection from predators or because the plankton, they feed is simpler to detect.”

Scallop eyes are remarkably keen, and their attachment to artificial light is interesting.  Scallops may be caught using lights. A total of 1,886 pots were pulled in an experiment: 985 experimental pots with lights netted 518 scallops, whereas 901 control pots without lights caught only two. Overall, 99.6 percent of scallops were captured in light-up pots. Scallops are more attracted to blue light than white light, according to tank research. If the researchers can create a light system that is especially designed to collect scallops, it may open the possibility of doing this on a larger scale. This might lessen some of the harm caused by fishing to our seabed.