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Mytilus edulis
The mussels are dark blue and black in color with a purple and brownish hue. They are narrower at the base where they attach to the rocks and fan out toward the top. They have two smooth halves than are joined together and clamped shut. The mussels live together in a colony and have other organisms living and growing in the outside of their shell.
It is found at the shell beach tide-pools in La Jolla,CA. They were found attached to rocks on high altitudes from the ocean waters. The tide brings up water and the mussels simmer in the sockets in the rocks that were formed by erosion or sedimentary formation by the tides. The water in the pools are warmer than the ocean so there is a lot of algae growth around and on the mussels. Some even had barnacles on them. There were clear skies about 75 degrees with a cool breeze.
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