>\It reads:
>"...To distinguish from wild mussels, check the shell. Farmed have
>thin, dark shells; wild have
>thicker, silvery shells..."
>
>Although this fact is true, I am wondering WHY the shells of farmed
>mussels are always
>thinner??
>I am a coastal fellow working on a mussel aquaculture project with
>the University of Rhode
>Island's Seagrant director.
>If you have any information you can give me I would appreciate it. I
>have been searching for
>the answer for some time now, and getting very frustrated!
>
>Thanks a lot,
>Jessica Scherer

I'm not sure, but cultured mussels here in NZ are Perna canaliculus,
and are large and thinshelled. They are all grown on rafts in very
sheltered waters. I suspect that the water conditions are the
determining factor here. Are the US cultured mussels grown in such
shelter?
--
Andrew Grebneff
165 Evans St, Dunedin 9001, New Zealand
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