Scallop

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{{Taxobox | color = pink | name = Scallops | image = Scallop eyes.jpg | image_width = 200px | regnum = Animalia | phylum = Mollusca | classis = Bivalvia | ordo = Ostreoida | familia = Pectinidae | subdivision_ranks = Genera | subdivision = See text. }} Scallops are the family Pectinidae of bivalve molluscs. Like the true oysters (family Ostreidae), they have a central adductor muscle, and thus their shells have a characteristic central scar marking its point of attachment. However, the adductor muscle of scallops is larger and more developed than that of oysters because they are active swimmers. Their shell shape tends to be highly regular and like the standard image of a shell.

Scallops may be attached to a substrate by a structure called a byssus, or cemented to their substrate (eg. Hinnites spp.). They can also be free living. A scallop can swim by rapidly opening and closing its shell. This method of rapidly opening and closing its shell is also a defense technique, protecting it from any threats.

1 Life cycle
2 Scallops in cooking
3 Scallops in art and design
4 Gathering scallops
5 List of genera
6 External links

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Life cycle

Scallops are dioecious, individuals having distinct sexual organs. Spermatazoa and ova are released freely into the water during mating season and fertilized ova sink to the bottom. After several weeks, the immature scallop hatches and the larvae drift until settling to the bottom again where they will attach and grow. They reach sexual maturity after several years though they may not reach a commercially harvestable size until six to 8 years of age. Scallop may live to be as old as 18 years of age, this age being reflected in the annuli, the concentric rings of their shells.

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Scallops in cooking

Image:Singing Scallops.jpg Scallops are a popular type of shellfish in both Eastern and Western cooking. They are characterised by having two types of meat in one shell: the scallop (white, meaty) and its coral (orange, soft) which is its roe.

Scallops are commonly sautéd in butter, or else breaded and deep fried. Scallops are commonly paired with light semi-dry white wines. Generally speaking, when a scallop is prepared, only the adductor muscle is used; the other parts of the scallop surrounding the muscle are ordinarily discarded. Most commonly, markets in the US sell scallops already prepared in the shell, with only the adductor muscle intact. Outside the US, the scallop is often sold whole.

In continental cuisine, scallops are often prepared in the form of a quiche or cooked and then set into a savory custard. In Japanese cuisine, scallops may be served in soup or prepared as sashimi or sushi. Dried scallop is known in Oriental cuisine as conpoy.

The French for a scallop is coquille St. Jacques, which means "shell of St. James", and that term also refers to a method of cooking and serving them with the coral, on a shell (real or ceramic) in a creamy wine sauce.

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Scallops in art and design

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The Scallop shell as a religious symbol

The French name for the scallop is coquille St. Jacques and it is so called because the scallop shell is the traditional emblem of Saint James the Great. The association can most likely be traced to the legend that St. James once rescued a knight covered in scallops. An alternate version of the legend holds that while St. James's remains were being transported to Spain from Jerusalem, the horse of a knight fell into the water, and emerged covered in scallops. Medieval Christians making the pilgrimage, known as the Way of St James, to his shrine at Santiago de Compostela often wore a scallop shell symbol on their hats or clothes. This fact is reflected in the Swedish word for scallop, which literally translates to pilgrim mussel.

The scallop shell symbol found its way into heraldry as a badge of those who had been on the pilgrimage to Compostela. Winston Churchill's family coat of arms includes a scallop, as does John Wesley's (and as a result the scallop shell is used as an emblem of Methodism).

The scallop shell also appears on the coat of arms of Pope Benedict XVI.

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The Scallop shell as a corporate logo

The mulitnational oil company Royal Dutch Shell uses a red and yellow scallop shell emblem as its logo.

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Scalloping

Scalloped edges or ridges refers to a wavy pattern reminiscent of the edge of a scallop's shell.

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Gathering scallops

Scallops were traditionally caught by dragging the seabed, but now in British seas there is a trade in scuba diving to catch scallops. Dived scallops tend to fetch better prices than dredged scallops because their shells are not damaged as much and there is much less rubbish mixed with the catch. Also, scallop diving merely removes the scallops and does no other damage, but dragging destroys much seabed life and ruins the grazing for many other sea animals in the area.

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