A retractable foot, a siphon for sucking up water, powerful muscles, and, sometimes, a pearl ... and mussels, clams are bivalves, a kind of mollusk that's encased in a shell made of two valves ...

The purplish shells of quahogs, treasured in the past by Native Americans, now appear alongside gold, mother-of-pearl and ...

Pearls are made by marine oysters and freshwater mussels as a natural defence against an irritant such as a parasite entering their shell or damage to their fragile body. The oyster or mussel slowly ...

Inside the shell, the oyster has several parts ... and Lifestyle Tips visit Etimes Oysters are the primary producers of pearls, clams and mussels can also create pearls, though this is much ...