Ecology Summary - Mytilus californianus

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Ecology of Mytilus californianus

Main Ref.	Gallivan, G. and J. Danforth, 1999
Remarks	Found in dense colonies on wharf piles and surf exposed rocks in the mid to high tide zone. Its diet include fine organic detritus, living plankton, especially dinoflagellates; when the water exceeds a certain temperature, often from late May through October, mussels feed on dinoflagellates that make them poisonous for humans to eat (Ref. 312). Very dominant competitor in an intertidal bed. Prefers to settle on other mussels and barnacles, giving it a competitive advantage (Ref. 104225). Predators are ochre star, dogwinkle, and humans (Ref. 312). Occurs from mid to high tide mark (Ref. 312).

Main Ref.

Gallivan, G. and J. Danforth, 1999

Remarks

Found in dense colonies on wharf piles and surf exposed rocks in the mid to high tide zone. Its diet include fine organic detritus, living plankton, especially dinoflagellates; when the water exceeds a certain temperature, often from late May through October, mussels feed on dinoflagellates that make them poisonous for humans to eat (Ref. 312). Very dominant competitor in an intertidal bed. Prefers to settle on other mussels and barnacles, giving it a competitive advantage (Ref. 104225). Predators are ochre star, dogwinkle, and humans (Ref. 312). Occurs from mid to high tide mark (Ref. 312).

Aquatic zones / Water bodies

	Marine - Neritic	Marine - Oceanic	Brackishwater	Freshwater
Marine zones / Brackish and freshwater bodies	supra-littoral zone littoral zone sublittoral zone	epipelagic mesopelagic epipelagic abyssopelagic hadopelagic	estuaries/lagoons/brackish seas mangroves marshes/swamps	rivers/streams lakes/ponds caves exclusively in caves

Highighted items on the list are where Mytilus californianus may be found.

Habitat

Substrate	Benthic: sessile; Hard Bottom: rocky;
Substrate Ref.
Special habitats	Beds: rock; Other habitats: seamounts; pilings;
Special habitats Ref.	Harbo, R.M., 1997

Associations

Ref.	Harbo, R.M., 1997
Associations	parasitism; colony-forming/symphorism;
Associated with	Free-living Achelia chelata reported to parasitize the mussel (Ref. 121217).
Association remarks	Forms extensive mussel beds on surf-exposed rocks (Ref. 95344).
Parasitism

feeding

Feeding type	mainly plants/detritus (troph. 2-2.19)
Feeding type Ref.	Gallivan, G. and J. Danforth, 1999
Feeding habit	filtering plankton
Feeding habit Ref.	Gallivan, G. and J. Danforth, 1999

Trophic Level(s)

Estimation method	original sample		unfished population		Remark
Estimation method	Troph	s.e.	Troph	s.e.	Remark
From diet composition
From individual food items	2.00	0.00			Trophic level estimated from a number of food items using a randomized resampling routine.
Ref.

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