Wednesday, March 19, 2014

The Official State Shell

Location:   Coastal Waters
Year:   1988

In 1988, New York declared the lowly blue-eyed (22 of them!) Bay Scallop (Argopecten irradians) as the official State Shell. Bay Scallops are found---hey, guess what!---in New York's bays. They grow to be as much as 3 1/2 inches wide and have 13 to 22 ridges on them. They are hermaphroditic, which should put a certain segment of the population into a tizzy. 

They are tasty, and in places have been overharvested.  

No news on whether the bivalve inside gets a liner credit.





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