Higher Classification: > Kingdom Animalia > Subkingdom Eumetazoa > Phylum Mollusca > Class Bivalvia > Subclass Autobranchia > Infraclass Pteriomorphia > Order Mytilida > Superfamily Mytiloidea > Family Mytilidae > Subfamily Mytilinae > Genus Mytilus

Mytilus californianus Conrad, 1837

Rank: Species
Taxon Status: accepted

Relationships towards this taxon

Genus group names

*Mytilus*	Linnaeus, 1758	accepted genus name
*Mytulus*	[sic]	orthographic variant

Vernaculars (+) (-)

English: California mussel; common mussel sources: Cole, T. C. H. (2017). Wörterbuch der Wirbellosen / Dictionary of Invertebrates. Latein-Deutsch-English. 2017. Springer Spektrum: Berlin. ISBN 978-3-662-52869-3. XII, 574 pp.

German: Kalifornische Miesmuschel

Literature

original description	Conrad, T. A. (1837). Description of new marine shells, from Upper California. Collected by Thomas Nuttall, Esq. Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia. 7: 227-268, pls 17-20.
additional source	Aguilar Rosas, L. E. ; Bertsch, H. ; Pacheco Ruiz, I. (1988). Distribution and Abundance of the Mussel Mytilus californianus along the Pacific Coast of Baja California,Mexico. VENUS (The Japanese Journals of Malacology). 47 (1): 62-70.
additional source	Heath, H. (1929). Poisonous mussels. The Nautilus. 42(4): 139-140.
additional source	Ubukata, T. (2000). Theoretical Morphology of Composite Prismatic, Fibrous Prismatic and Foliated Shell Microstructures in Bivalves. Venus (Journal of the Malacological Society of Japan). 59 (4): 297-305.
additional source	Young, R. T. (1951). Another Mytilus hermaphrodite. The Nautilus. 64(3): 105.
additional source	Meyer, K. F. (1929). Mussel poisoning in California. The Nautilus. 42(3): 100-101.
additional source	Keep, J. (1891). Mollusks of the San Francisco markets. The Nautilus. 4(9): 97-100.
additional source	Richards, O. W. (1928). The growth of the mussel Mytilus californianus. The Nautilus. 41(3): 99-101.
redescription	Coan, E. V.; Valentich-Scott, P. (2012). Bivalve seashells of tropical West America. Marine bivalve mollusks from Baja California to northern Peru. 2 vols, 1258 pp.
status source	Huber M. (2015). Compendium of Bivalves 2. A Full-Color Guide to the Remaining Seven Families. A Systematic Listing of 8,500 Bivalve Species and 10,500 Synonyms. ConchBooks, Harxheim, Germany,. 901 pp. + 1 CD-ROM (containing chapters 5 and 6.461) [Tellinidae by Huber, Langleit & Kreipl, pp. 167-297].

Genbank

Citation

MolluscaBase eds. (2025). MolluscaBase. Mytilus californianus Conrad, 1837. Via: Costello, M.J.; Bouchet, P.; Boxshall, G.; Arvantidis, C.; Appeltans, W. (2011) European Register of Marine Species, Accessed through PESI at http://www.eu-nomen.eu/portal/taxon.php?GUID=urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:367837