May 3, 2024 — In Massachusetts, common blue mussels may not have the star power of Wellfleet oysters or the charisma of quahogs. But like all shellfish they play an important role in marine ecosystems. Mussels are filter feeders that clean water as they eat; and they clump into reefs that create habitat for other critters and buffer coasts from storms.
But mussels are threatened by the warming waters and ocean acidification arriving with climate change. New research shows that mussels from several East Coast locations, though not yet Massachusetts, have shells speckled with tiny holes — far more than the mussels of yesteryear.
This increased porosity is not enough to weaken the shells, yet, “but if we continue down this route, they might get there,” said study author Leanne Melbourne, a postdoctoral researcher at the American Museum of Natural History, who used historic mussel shells from museum’s collections for the study.
Melbourne, who studies the impact of climate change on marine organisms, said that ocean warming is the “most likely driver” of the increased porosity.