''Placopecten magellanicus'', previously listed as ''Pecten tenuicostatus'' and as ''Pecten grandis'' and once referred to as the "giant scallop", common names Atlantic deep-sea scallop, deep sea scallop, North Atlantic sea scallop, American sea scallop, Atlantic sea scallop, or sea scallop, is a commercially important pectinid bivalve

mollusk Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is e ...

native to the northwest

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

Description

The shell has a classic form, with smooth shell and edges, unlike ''

Pecten maximus ''Pecten maximus'', common names the great scallop, king scallop, St James shell or escallop, is a northeast Atlantic species of scallop, an edible saltwater clam, a marine bivalve mollusc in the family Pectinidae. This is the type species of ...

'' (common name the "great scallop" or "king scallop") which has flutes and scalloped edges; size is around , with individuals up to in diameter. The shell is generally pinkish-red in color, with striped variegation to darker shades appearing in many individuals. The adductor muscle itself is large, often in diameter. Like all scallops, ''P. magellanicus'' has photoreceptive eyes along the edge of the pinkish mantle.

Range and habitat

''Placopecten magellanicus'' is found on the continental shelf of the northwest Atlantic from the north shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence south to

Cape Hatteras Cape Hatteras is a cape located at a pronounced bend in Hatteras Island, one of the barrier islands of North Carolina. Long stretches of beach, sand dunes, marshes, and maritime forests create a unique environment where wind and waves shap ...

, North Carolina. Sea scallops typically occur at depths ranging from 18–110 m, but may also occur in waters as shallow as 2 m in estuaries and embayments along the Maine coast and in Canada. In southern areas, scallops are primarily found at depths between 45 and 75 m, and are less common in shallower water (25–45 m) due to high temperature. Although sea scallops are not common at depths greater than about 110 m, some populations have been found as deep as 384 m, and deep-water populations at 170–180 m have been reported in the

Gulf of Maine , image = , alt = , caption = , image_bathymetry = GulfofMaine2.jpg , alt_bathymetry = , caption_bathymetry = Major features of the Gulf of Maine , location = Northeast coast of the ...

. Sea scallops often occur in aggregations called beds. Beds may be sporadic (perhaps lasting for a few years) or essentially permanent (e.g., commercial beds supporting the

Georges Bank Georges Bank (formerly known as St. Georges Bank) is a large elevated area of the sea floor between Cape Cod, Massachusetts (United States), and Cape Sable Island, Nova Scotia (Canada). It separates the Gulf of Maine from the Atlantic Ocean. T ...

fishery). The highest concentration of many permanent beds appears to correspond to areas of suitable temperatures, food availability, substrate, and where physical oceanographic features such as fronts and

gyre In oceanography, a gyre () is any large system of circulating ocean currents, particularly those involved with large wind movements. Gyres are caused by the Coriolis effect; planetary vorticity, horizontal friction and vertical friction dete ...

s may keep larval stages in the vicinity of the spawning population. Adult sea scallops are generally found on firm sand, gravel, shells, and rock. Other invertebrates associated with scallop beds include sponges,

hydroids Hydroids are a life stage for most animals of the class Hydrozoa, small predators related to jellyfish. Some hydroids such as the freshwater '' Hydra'' are solitary, with the polyp attached directly to the substrate. When these produce buds ...

, anemones,

bryozoans Bryozoa (also known as the Polyzoa, Ectoprocta or commonly as moss animals) are a phylum of simple, aquatic invertebrate animals, nearly all living in sedentary colonies. Typically about long, they have a special feeding structure called a l ...

polychaetes Polychaeta () is a paraphyletic class of generally marine annelid worms, commonly called bristle worms or polychaetes (). Each body segment has a pair of fleshy protrusions called parapodia that bear many bristles, called chaetae, which are made ...

mussels Mussel () is the common name used for members of several families of bivalve molluscs, from saltwater and freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other edible clams, which ...

moon snails Naticidae, common name moon snails or necklace shells, is a family of medium to large-sized predatory sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the clade Littorinimorpha. The shells of the species in this family are mostly globular in shape. Nat ...

whelk Whelk (also known as scungilli) is a common name applied to various kinds of sea snail. Although a number of whelks are relatively large and are in the family Buccinidae (the true whelks), the word ''whelk'' is also applied to some other marin ...

amphipods Amphipoda is an order of malacostracan crustaceans with no carapace and generally with laterally compressed bodies. Amphipods range in size from and are mostly detritivores or scavengers. There are more than 9,900 amphipod species so far describ ...

crabs Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" (abdomen) ( el, βραχύς , translit=brachys = short, / = tail), usually hidden entirely under the thorax. They live in all the ...

lobsters Lobsters are a family (Nephropidae, synonym Homaridae) of marine crustaceans. They have long bodies with muscular tails and live in crevices or burrows on the sea floor. Three of their five pairs of legs have claws, including the first pair, ...

sea stars Starfish or sea stars are star-shaped echinoderms belonging to the class Asteroidea (). Common usage frequently finds these names being also applied to ophiuroids, which are correctly referred to as brittle stars or basket stars. Starfish ar ...

sea cucumbers Sea cucumbers are echinoderms from the class Holothuroidea (). They are marine animals with a leathery skin and an elongated body containing a single, branched gonad. Sea cucumbers are found on the sea floor worldwide. The number of holothurian ...

, and

tunicates A tunicate is a marine invertebrate animal, a member of the subphylum Tunicata (). It is part of the Chordata, a phylum which includes all animals with dorsal nerve cords and notochords (including vertebrates). The subphylum was at one tim ...

Fishery

According to NOAA, the Atlantic sea scallop fishery is healthy, and is harvested at sustainable levels. The federal fishery is managed by NOAA Fisheries and the New England Fishery Management Council. The U.S. Atlantic sea scallop fishery is the largest wild scallop fishery in the world. In 2008, 53.5 million pounds of sea scallop meats worth $370 million were harvested in the United States, with Massachusetts and New Jersey responsible for the majority. In 2018, 58.2 million pounds of sea scallop meats worth $532.9 million were harvested in the United States with Massachusetts responsible for the majority. Between the 1960s and the mid-1990s, the U.S. federal Atlantic sea scallop fishery declined steadily. In 1994 a new set of management guidelines were implemented including a moratorium on permits, limited days at sea, gear and crew restrictions, and areas closed to fishing. Between 1994 and 2005, the biomass of the U.S. sea scallop population increased by 18-fold on Georges Bank and by 8-fold in the Mid-Atlantic Bight region. The state of Maine has an inshore (within 3 miles) winter (December - April) scallop fishery that is managed by the Maine Department of Marine Resources. Scallops in Maine inshore waters are harvested by mechanical draggers or by SCUBA divers ("dive caught"). In 2009 low harvest numbers caused the Department of Marine Resources to cut the season short and proposed a series of management measures. Entry to the fishery became limited, the season was reduced to 70 days, and the minimum ring size was increased to four inches. Additionally, 13 conservation closures (~20% of coastal Maine waters) were created for the following three fishing seasons. In 2012, the Department of Marine Resources proposed developing a rotational closure system for the fishery, based on a 10-year schedule. This rotational closure system was adopted only in the Zone 2 region of the state fishery. All three zones have different management tools that include limited access areas and in-season targeted closures. Since 2009, both dollar value and landings have gone up for the sea scallop fishery in the state of Maine. The

Monterey Bay Aquarium Monterey Bay Aquarium is a nonprofit public aquarium in Monterey, California. Known for its regional focus on the marine habitats of Monterey Bay, it was the first to exhibit a living kelp forest when it opened in October 1984. Its biologists ...

Seafood Watch __NOTOC__ Seafood Watch is a sustainable seafood advisory list, and has influenced similar programs around the world. It is best known for developing science-based seafood recommendations that consumers, chefs, and business professionals use to i ...

lists sea scallops as a "Good Alternative," its second best rating. Greenpeace red listed the Atlantic sea scallop, stating that scallop stocks are being overfished and that the fishing methods used are destroying corals and sponges. According to Greenpeace the fishery of scallops kills nearly 1,000 loggerhead sea turtles every year. Since 2015, chain mats and Turtle Deflector Dredges (TDDs) have been added to offshore equipment to reduce sea turtle deaths. This has caused a significant reduction in sea turtles getting caught in harvesting gear.

References

External links

New England Fishery Management Council
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3016926 Pectinidae Molluscs of the Atlantic Ocean Aquaculture Commercial molluscs Bivalves described in 1791 Taxa named by Johann Friedrich Gmelin