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Environment

Five facts about scallops

By Carrie Miller

(Credit: Carrie Miller)
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Map.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Map.

• The scallop can be found in bays from Cape Cod to the Gulf of Mexico and even in Nova Scotia. Locally, bay scallops are found mostly in the Peconics, Great South Bay, Moriches Bay and Shinnecock Bay. 

(Credit: Stony Brook University)
(Credit: Stony Brook University)

• Bay scallops were nearly driven to extinction due to “brown tide” algal blooms that affected bay waters from 1985 to 1987 and again in 1995. Because bay scallops live for just 18 to 22 months and reproduce only once, they are particularly susceptible to population fluctuations. 

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• In the early 1980s, fishermen could harvest an average of 300,000 pounds of scallop meat annually, contributing over $4 million to the local economy each year. By 2013, however, just over 32,000 pounds of meat, worth about $475,000, were harvested dockside, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 

(Credit: Carrie Miller)
(Credit: Carrie Miller)

• An adult scallop can swim across the bottom of the ocean to protect itself from predators by using its large adductor muscle, which is the part of the scallop humans eat. The muscle allows scallops to open and close their shells quickly, propelling them through the water. This is referred to as “clapping.” 

(Credit: Stephen Tettelbach)
(Credit: Stephen Tettelbach)

• Scallops have at least 18 pairs of bright blue eyes that line the outside edges of their shells and are used to detect shadows and movement. The eyes give the species its scientific name, Argopecten irradians. “Irradians” is Latin for “bright.”