The larvae drift in the plankton until they go to the bottom again to grow. The immature scallop hatches after a few weeks. Scallops release Spermatozoa and ova freely into the water during the mating season.
A few scallops are male when they are young and they become female when they grow older. Other species are hermaphrodites so a single scallop has both male and female reproductive organs at the same time. In some species, a scallop has only one sex. The scallop family is unusual because of the variety in arrangements for sexual reproduction.
One can estimate their age from the annuli, the concentric rings on their shells. Some scallops, such as the Atlantic bay scallop Argopecten irradians do not live for a long time. Waste goes through the intestine and exits through the anus. Then, the scallop digests the food in the stomach and digestive gland. Next, the cilia on the structure moves the food to the mouth. Siphons bring water over a filtering structure. The plankton sometimes has scallop larvae in it. This is because they swim.įood and digestion The adductor muscle of scallops is larger and more developed than the adductor muscle of oysters. This shows where this muscle attaches to the shell. The inside of their shell has a scar in the middle. This is the same as true oysters (family Ostreidae). So that tells palaeontologists when they have a fossil scallop.Īnatomical diagram of a typical hermaphroditic scallop with the left (upper) valve removed Muscles Its importance is that only scallops have it, and it can be seen in fossils. At some stage in their lives, all scallops all have a ridge of tiny teeth near the notch where the byssus comes out in other bivalves. The valves are similar, and fit closely together to make a tight-fitting shell.Ĥ. The scallop eyes fringing the edge of its shell detect moving objects as they pass successive eyes.ģ. Their eyes cannot see shapes, but they can detect changing patterns of light and motion. They have eyes round the edges of their mantle. Most species lie on sandy beds, and swim off when touched by a starfish or other predator.Ģ. However, a few species attach to rocks as adults by a filament.
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