Available farmed, this marine-dwelling bivalve mollusc is found in intertidal waters to depths of around 20m, often in dense clumps, attached by coarse rope-like ‘beards’ to exposed reefs, rocks and jetty pylons, and was traditionally harvested by divers off southern NSW, Victoria, SA and southern WA.
Aquaculture commenced in NSW in 1976, and now all Blue Mussels sold commercially are farmed. They are grown in southern NSW (around Eden), Victoria, Tasmania, SA and southern WA in clean, sheltered water 5-20m deep. The tiny immature Mussels (spat) are collected on ropes (mainly from the wild, although some are produced in hatcheries in Tasmania), raised in long ‘socks’ (to protect them from predators) suspended from horizontal ropes attached to buoys to keep them immersed (known as subtidal suspended culture) and harvested at 12-18 months.
The dark (brown, grey, blue, purple or black), wedge-shaped shell with a bluish-white interior is easily distinguished from other bivalve molluscs such as Pipis and Cockles. They are the only commercial species of Mussel sold in quantity in Australia.