Invertebrates
King Scallop
Pecten maximus · also called great scallop
On a sandy seabed off the Scottish coast, a king scallop rests with its flat lid slightly open, a row of blue eyes glittering along its edge.
Overview
The king scallop, Pecten maximus, is a large bivalve of sand and gravel seabeds from Norway to the Iberian coast. Its flat lid, blue eyes, and swimming escape make it one of the most distinctive of all shellfish.
A bivalve that can swim
Most bivalves are fixed or slow-moving, but a scallop can flap its shells to dart sideways and away from a hunting starfish.
Status
Not Evaluated, but fisheries are managed.
King Scallop: common questions
How many eyes does a scallop have?
A king scallop has up to around a hundred tiny blue eyes along the edge of its soft mantle.
Can a scallop swim?
Yes, it can escape from predators such as starfish by clapping its two shells together to jet through the water in short bursts.
Is a scallop male or female?
Both, as it is a hermaphrodite, with an orange female part and a white male part to its edible gonad.
Where is the king scallop found?
It lives on sand and gravel seabeds of the north-eastern Atlantic, from Norway to the Iberian coast.