The Chilean mussel''Mytilus chilensis'' (Hupé, 1854)
Sealifebase.org or Chilean blue mussel, ''Mytilus chilensis'', is a species of

blue mussel The blue mussel (''Mytilus edulis''), also known as the common mussel, is a medium-sized edible marine bivalve mollusc in the family Mytilidae, the only extant family in the order Mytilida, known as "true mussels". Blue mussels are subject to ...

native to the coasts of

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

from

Biobío Region The Biobío Region ( ) is one of Chile's sixteen regions (first-order administrative divisions). With a population of 1.5 million, thus being the third most populated region in Chile, it is divided into three provinces: Arauco, Biobío and C ...

(37 ºS) to

Cape Horn Cape Horn (, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which is Águila Islet), Cape Horn marks the nor ...

(55 ºS). Genomic evidence has confirmed that the native Chilean blue mussel is genetically distinct from the Northern Hemisphere ''M. edulis'', ''M. galloprovincialis'' and ''M. trossulus'' and also genetically different from ''Mytilus platensis'','' ''the other species of smooth shelled mussel from South America.

Right and left valve of the same specimen: File:Mytilus chilensis 01.jpg, Right valve File:Mytilus chilensis 02.jpg, Left valve

Aquaculture

Chilean mussel total production thousand tonnes 1950-2022

''M. chilensis'' is under intensive

aquaculture Aquaculture (less commonly spelled aquiculture), also known as aquafarming, is the controlled cultivation ("farming") of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae and other organisms of value such as aquatic plants (e.g. Nelu ...

in Chile. From 2004 to 2008 the annual commercial harvest increased from 80,000 to 200,000 tonnes.Ríos, J. L. (2010
Mussels - May 2010, Chile
Globefish.org. Following a decrease in 2009, the production was back at high level in 2010.
Globefish.org Over 45,000 tonnes of mussels were exported from Chile in 2008, 93% of them frozen. Some 74% of exports are to the EU, primarily Spain and France, and 15% to the United States.

Systematics

Alcide d'Orbigny Alcide Charles Victor Marie Dessalines d'Orbigny (6 September 1802 – 30 June 1857) was a French naturalist who made major contributions in many areas, including zoology (including malacology), palaeontology, geology, archaeology and anthropol ...

first described the species ''Mytilus platensis'' d'Orbigny, 1842,. Species that was for many year erroneously confused with ''Mytilus chilensis'' described by Hipolito Hupé in 1854. Nowadays most biodiversity databases, such as the World Register of Marine Species or the Integrated Taxonomic Information System recognise ''Mytilus chilensis'' as a valid taxon in the ''Mytilus'' genus and different from ''Mytilus platensis''. ''Mytilus chilensis'' is part of the worldwide ''Mytilus edulis'' complex of mussels, or blue mussels. Modern genetic studies based on

single-nucleotide polymorphism In genetics and bioinformatics, a single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP ; plural SNPs ) is a germline substitution of a single nucleotide at a specific position in the genome. Although certain definitions require the substitution to be present in a ...

(SNP) have demonstrated that the Chilean mussel is genetically different of both the

Mediterranean mussel The Mediterranean mussel (''Mytilus galloprovincialis'') is a species of bivalve, a marine mollusc in the family Mytilidae. It is an invasive species in many parts of the world, and also an object of aquaculture. Systematics ''Mytilus gallopro ...

(''Mytilus galloprovincialis'') and the North Atlantic ''

Mytilus edulis The blue mussel (''Mytilus edulis''), also known as the common mussel, is a medium-sized edible marine (ocean), marine bivalve mollusc in the family (biology), family Mytilidae, the only extant family in the order (biology), order Mytilida, known ...

''. Evidence collected until 2021 recognized several blue mussel species in South America, including native ''M. platensis'', introduced ''M. galloprovincialis'' from the Mediterranean, and possibly-introduced ''M. planulatus''. Using nuclear DNA markers, Borsa et al. (2012) confirmed earlier results from allozymes that most populations in the south of the South American continent indeed represent a native Southern Hemisphere lineage of the blue mussel, for which they suggested to use the subspecies name ''Mytilus edulis platensis'' (now ''M. platensis''). The same authors questioned the earlier identifications of the Montevideo mussel in Southern Chile as "''M. galloprovincialis''" because the genetic markers then used could not help distinguishing ''M. galloprovincialis'' from any of the two native blue mussel species from the Southern Hemisphere, now referred to as ''M. planulatus'' and ''M. platensis''. Moreover, ''M. platensis'' populations in southern Chile show slight

introgression Introgression, also known as introgressive hybridization, in genetics is the transfer of genetic material from one species into the gene pool of another by the repeated backcrossing of an interspecific hybrid with one of its parent species. Introg ...

from ''M. planulatus''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q384733 Mytilus (bivalve) Molluscs of the Pacific Ocean Molluscs of Chile Fauna of the Falkland Islands Bivalves described in 1854

Aquaculture

Systematics

See also

References