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Common name - Mussel
Scientific name - Mytilus edulis
Average rating
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Visit Fishonline for the full range of options available for this species.
Consumer Information
These deep bluish purple two-shelled or bivalve molluscs are common on UK shores and shallow seabeds and are often viewed as a poor man’s shellfish, as they are so cheap. The shell is longer than it is wide and wedge-shaped. The inside is pearly blue. Best steamed with garlic, butter, lemon juice, white wine or other sauce. If cooked well they taste like the ocean with a hint of mushroom. The whole mussel, apart from the shell, is eaten. Mussels are widely cultivated and the most common source; eat rope grown or hand-gathered mussels as these are more sustainable than those harvested by mechanical methods such as dredging.
Summary
Mussels are widely cultivated and stocks are generally considered to be under-exploited. The main methods of harvesting wild and farmed mussels are dredging and hand-gathering. Choose mussels that have been sustainably harvested in the wild (by hand-gathering), or farmed.
Alternatives
(Based on method of production, fish type, and consumer rating: only fish rated 3 and below are included.)
Visit Fishonline, the website for the seafood industry, for more detailed information about this species.