Adam Dundas, age 13, of Asbury Park, N.J., for his question:
WHERE DO SCALLOPS LIVE?
A scallop is a shellfish that is used for food. Several species live along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of North America. The most important is the common bay scallop and it is found in inlets from Massachusetts to the Gulf of Mexico.
The deep sea scallop may grow to be 8 inches wide. It is found from Labrador to North Carolina and especially off Maine and Nova Scotia. Fishermen catch deep sea scallops at depths of 30 to 90 feet by dragging chain bags over the ocean bottoms.
A scallop is actually a bivalve mollusk. This is an animal with a two piece shell around its soft, boneless body. Scallops usually live in shallow waters and can generally be found throughout the world. Some live in water that is four and a half miles deep.
A scallop shell is made up of two equal, rounded valves that usually have fanlike, radiating ribs. At the hinge of the shell, where the ligament unites the valves, there are two winglike projections that are called "ears."
The inside of the scallop shell is lined with fleshy skin called the "mantle." The edge of this mantle is folded and fringed with tentacles or feelers and a row of eyes.
Scallops are very active and swim by rapidly opening and closing their valves. When the large adductor muscle closes the valves, water is forced out alternately through openings near the hinge. This action pushes the creature forward.
The large adductor muscle is the only part of the scallop that is sold for food. The tender meat, that tastes somewhat like lobster, is thought by many to be the finest delicacy delivered from the ocean.
Scallop shells have been used widely in designs. In the Middle Ages, many people wore scallop shells in their hats to show that they were on pilgrimages.
The scallop, as a mollusk, is a member of the largest group of water animals in the world.
There are about 100,000 known kinds of living mollusks in the world. Scientists find about 1,000 new species every year. The fossils of about 100,000 other species of mollusks have also been found.
The mollusks make up a "phylum," a major division of the animal kingdom. It is called Mollusca, a Latin word meaning soft bodied.
The largest group of mollusks are univalves. Included here are limpets, slugs, snails and whelks. Most kinds of univalves have a single, coiled shell.
Bivalves form the second largest class of mollusks. Included is this group are scallops along with clams, oysters and muscles.
All bivalves have two shells that are held together by hinges that look like small teeth. The shells of bivalves are usually open, but when the animals are frightened, strong muscles pull the shells shut quickly and hold them closely together until danger has passed.