How Does the Mussel Grow its Beard? | Deep Look
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 มี.ค. 2023
- Mussels create byssal threads, known as the mussel's "beard," to attach themselves both to rocks and to each other. They use their sensitive foot to mold the threads from scratch and apply a waterproof adhesive that makes superglue jealous.
SUBSCRIBE to Deep Look! th-cam.com/users/kqeddeep...
DEEP LOOK is an ultra-HD (4K) short video series created by KQED San Francisco and presented by PBS Digital Studios. See the unseen at the very edge of our visible world. Explore big scientific mysteries by going incredibly small.
---
A day at the beach isn’t all it’s cracked up to be for mussels that make their home along the rough and tumble California coast. To keep from being swept away by the pummeling waves, they grow 50-100 strings called byssal fibers to attach themselves to the rocks and each other.
Those fibers are collectively called the byssus, otherwise known as the mussel’s “beard.”
So, how does the mussel create the byssal threads? Turns out mussels have a thread-making factory in their foot.
The foot, which looks like a little tongue, has a groove that runs its length. “The mussel squirts protein building blocks, which are liquid, into the groove channel. Then they become solid in just a matter of minutes,” says Matthew Harrington, a researcher at McGill University who takes inspiration from nature to create better and more sustainable materials.
The waterproof glue that the mussel uses to attach each thread to the rock hardens in water. Having a glue like that would be very useful for humans, especially in medical and dental situations where the adhesive needs to stick in a wet environment.
“If you’ve tried to put a piece of tape or glue onto a wet surface, even a slightly damp surface, you know it doesn’t stick,” says Harrington. “But mussels figured out how to glue things to a wet surface. It’s really interesting how they solved a problem that we, as engineers, have been working on for over 100 years.”
--- What do mussels eat?
Mussels are filter feeders. They suck in water, and they filter out tiny bits of food like algae and detritus churned up by waves.
--- What are mussels made of?
Mussels build their shells out of calcium carbonate, which they pull from the water.
--- How do mussels attach to rocks?
Mussels use their byssal threads, or “beards,” to connect themselves to rocks. In addition to their strong shell, keeping themselves attached to a rock makes it harder for predators to attack them.
---+ Find additional resources and a transcript on KQED Science:
www.kqed.org/science/1981819/...
---+ For more information:
Harrington Lab at McGill University studies how mussels make byssal threads to create better and more sustainable materials:
harrington.lab.mcgill.ca/
Messersmith Research Lab studies the glue that mussels use to connect to rocks, in order to create adhesives for humans to use in situations like surgery, where the adhesive needs to harden in a wet environment:
bioinspiredmaterials.berkeley...
---+ More Great Deep Look episodes:
Barnacles Go to Unbelievable Lengths to Hook Up | Deep Look
• Barnacles Go To Unbeli...
These Feisty Hermit Crabs Brawl Over Snail Shells | Deep Look
• These Feisty Hermit Cr...
Ever Seen a Starfish Gallop? | Deep Look
• Ever Seen a Starfish G...
---+ Shoutout!
🏆Congratulations🏆 to these fans on our Deep Look Community Tab who correctly answered our GIF challenge!
Scatman John
Edison Lewis
Cordon Grouch
Tragoudistros.MPH
MegaPiglatin
---+ Thank you to our Top Patreon Supporters ($10+ per month)!
Burt Humburg
Karen Reynolds
Daisuke Goto
Companion Cube
David Deshpande
Chris B Emrick
Tianxing Wang
Wade Tregaskis
Mark Jobes
Blanca Vides
Kevin Judge
monoirre
Laurel Przybylski
Cindy McGill
Titania Juang
Roberta K Wright
Supernovabetty
KW
Rory B.
Syniurge
El Samuels
Jellyman
Mehdi
Jessica Hiraoka
Cristen Rasmussen
Carrie Mukaida
Kelly Hong
SueEllen McCann
Noreen Herrington
Laurel Przybylski
Nicolette Ray
Caitlin McDonough
Elizabeth Ann Ditz
Levi Cai
Delphine Tseng
Louis O'Neill
TierZoo
Jeremiah Sullivan
---+ Follow Deep Look and KQED Science on social:
/ deeplookofficial
/ deeplook
Instagram: / kqedscience
Twitter: / kqedscience
---+ About KQED
KQED, an NPR and PBS affiliate in San Francisco, California, serves Northern California and beyond with a public-supported alternative to commercial TV, radio and web media.
Funding for Deep Look is provided in part by PBS Digital Studios and the members of KQED.
#musselbeard #byssalthread #deeplook - วิทยาศาสตร์และเทคโนโลยี
What if the want to move? Can they detach the threads?
September 5, 2023
@@KQEDDeepLook huh?
They don't move unless they absolutely require it. They don't "want".
Fun fact: the giant bivalve Pinna nobilis of the Mediterranean makes such a big, luxurious beard that it's called sea silk, and has been used to spin fabric like silk!
@@duaneulkanov7129 yoo I’ve seen that vid before
Wait until nickelodeon hears about this!
But it's very endangered,I know because I almost got in trouble for playing with it as a kid xD
@@duaneulkanov7129 oh hey i remember watching that
I love how this channel is not shellfish and shares knowledge with all of us!
Always!
@@KQEDDeepLook And you are so Adorable. 🥰
Badum tsss
I am always so blown away at the footage captured by you guys! I hope more behind the scenes content gets posted, because not only do i love these videos, but i love seeing how they are made!
Thank you, Marshall, we have some behind the scenes Shorts coming soon.
it's a good day when you guys upload like you make the best high quality detailed vids❤
Thank you, utsav!
Can't get over how good of a voice actor Laura is. That delivery is flawless everytime. And what a voice. So good.
It really says a lot about how useful the ability to make silk is, since so many different types of animals evolved to do it.
"Sticking together makes it harder for predators"
*That one mussel being eaten right next to their friends:* BRO
Yeah,bunching up is pretty useless,especially when they are human food.
@@naamadossantossilva4736 Not really. Less angles of attacks for preys, more chances to hurt yourself... it's not perfect, it's still the best tactic.
I like that there is a new look on mussels week after Ze Franks True facts video
i can’t look at the foot without thinking of a tongue 😭
truly fascinating though! shows you how that life on earth is already so alien and unique!
Thanks Tina, we caught ourselves calling it a tongue too sometimes, by accident, during production.
I absolutely adore bivalves! Such amazing and easily overlooked creatures. They're like Brita filters for the ocean.
I love anything to do with biomimetic engineering, so every time you spotlight a cool thing in the nature that we might be able to use as inspiration it really gets my brain juices flowing. :3
Alas, materials science was not my calling, but I love what I do anyway.
Did you hear about the research being done on using tinder fungus as a potential replacement for plastic?
Couldn't agree more! Yes, there has been some interesting work around using mycelium as a base for a number of materials science experiments.
I always wonder the biology of these crustacean creatures such as muscles, clams and barnacle. I always saw them being in a single place and not moving whenever being disturb. Very interesting to learn more about them on Deep Look!
Molluscs. These are molluscs. Including octopus and squids, snails, clams.
Crustaceans are the crabs, prawns, lobsters and those teams
@@sagaramskp barnacles actually are crustaceans! They have a shrimp like body inside their shell! You can see it in the Deep Look video about acorn barnacles. Mussels and clams ARE mollusks though
True - here is our episode on barnacles: th-cam.com/video/lfnkFxg1gMw/w-d-xo.html
New Deep Look video! Learns something new everytime I check them, thanks for the high quality videos as always.
Glad you like them, egg horse!
So many beards and no barbershop.
Jokes aside, I didn't get how the string gets out of the foot. Does it tap on a shell and then tap it on the ground? Like a spiderweb 🕸️
two days ago?
SogeMoge, thanks for being a Patreon supporter! The process is like injection molding; the foot unwraps the string before it is done hardening.
What I've learned: have dainty useful feet and grow a really strong beard and you'll make amazing bonds in your community! thank you for the life lessons!
Absolutely!
It's really fun to see all of these things I learned about in biology from lectures and textbooks. Much more vivid to see the animals alive as they do their stuff.
Hey deep, how about the psychedelic fungus next, the fungus that exclusively control cicadas. It's unique in my opinion.
There has been a lot of interest in our fugus episodes lately... I wonder why 🤔. We did do an episode on a fungus that controls the minds of ants: th-cam.com/video/C2Jw5ib-s_I/w-d-xo.html
@@KQEDDeepLook perhaps because of Last of us series that makes people now interested to fungus 😂
Including me 🤣
You're likely referring to Cordyceps, right? I think the Pokemon Paras and Parasect are based on those.
@@EngelSpiel the psychedelic one is American and infects only adult magicicadas. It's also not a cordyceps. The one paras is based on is an edible cordyceps that infects cicada nymphs in Asia, it has no psychedelic properties.
@@Xinevlin the show was garbage
We have a lesson called biotechnology in 12th grade and this is exactly what they told us as an example for future reference of biotechnology. Love this channel ♥️
The 3D rendering was so nice. The rest of the video was high quality as always! Great work!
Genuinely one of the few applications of the shellfish pun actually works completely in context
It's a fine line.
Spider clam, Spider clam, does whatever a spider can
This is amazing! So happy that DeepLook exists 😊
Always asked myself how did they build the barbs. Love this channel
Thanks Raul!
It’s always nice to wake up to theses videos and learn cool things! :D
The best creator of TH-cam in my opinion
Thanks Tashin! We work hard on these videos so your praise means a lot.
The scriptwriter deserves a raise or at least a bonus! Such a witty yet entertaining script u got there!
We studied the byssal threads in Molecular Biomechanics back in university. Incredibly strong but flexible materials that scientists are working on replicating, but we never covered how the mussel actually generates the thread in the first place. Fascinating footage as ever!
Always learning new things with a Deep Look video!
Always good to hear your voice.
Love the Humor at the end 🥰🤣😂🤣🥰
Thank you DL
Amazing footage!! Hope more people appreciate these creatures than just considering as a food
amazing how this good of content is free
gosh i always love the music and sound design in these videos
DEEP LOOK I WATCH UR VIDS EVERYDAYY
I love this channel so much
Deep Look upload. Lets go!!
Why have I only just found this channel?! I loved this video, thanks for such great content ❤
A new Deep Look video!
Always great to watch something educational
They should've called the mussel the tendon instead.
I see what you did there.
The clongy shelfish joke my lady 👌
good to know 👍👍👍... deep look is my best zooming details teacher ❤️❤️❤️
Today, I learned about mussel beard. Never stop learning.
what would the world do/be without the enlightening oracle that deep look is :)
As usual... nature is... AMAZING
So informative and...and aah! The lovely voice! just amazing channel..lots of L❤VE
Flex glue nature version!
I wonder if they remain in one spot in a whole life? & When do they stick themselves onto the substrate? While young or in early adulthood? An intriguing creature captured. Amazing as usual!
yup, thats the best channel on youtube
Never thought I'd be glued to my screen watching a video about muscles. Well done.
Having stepped on these I can say they're incredibly SHARP
That's glue must be very useful for aquarium and ponds, many aquarist hobbyst and any fishery or farm want it
How are these mussels not charged with public indecency yet?!
yeah yeah but that soundtrack fire tho 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Ha ha... The puns at the end... so funny.🙄
Lol😆
Love this channel.. 😂 🙌🏿
More invertebrate sea creatures please 💙
So I guess mollusks have a higher chance of growing a beard than me.
In my town the old sailors used to have fun telling teens that pigeon poop makes you grow a full beard
reminds me of one of those flex glue commercials :
it is super strong, it even dries under water!🤣
Wow I 😮all brand new learnings 🙌🏼
what a delicious video. thanks deeplook
10/10 for that pun at the end😅
Great video!
Believe me or not i have watched all your videos
I need a part 2 detailing how they get rid of unwanted attachments to move closer to friends or otherwise
Disconnected and all alone? Yep, that’s me
Asusual it's the best Informatic video 🤗, thank you to make us to know about mussel 😉
Glad you liked it Tamil!
Spider mussel does whatever a spider mussel does.
I never even knew they had those beards, very interesting
My parents harvest them some times and fry them for soup. It’s very hard to get a muscle you must cut and pull and pull! Such a strong creature !
Super fascinating! Delicious...the quality and the organism...😅
Thank you 😋
Amazing!
How do they even highlight the byssal thread so accurately
Mmm. One of my favorite foods!
I guess the euphemism "bearded clam" is more than just a euphemism!
Is Laura back? Always loved your narration :)
Yep!
This is amazing!
Thanks, Chi!
This wasn’t the bearded clam video I was expecting.
I love the puns... the really just.. *stick* together
They're like a community of mountain climbers or when mother nature accidentally installed a clam with spider hardware
3:24 those are good puns
Any guy who's whacked it in the shower already knows we have glue that hardens underwater.
Mussels an bivalves seem to me almost like plants, almost motionless, but not quite.
Love everything about this video
Cheers Raymond! You've been with us a long time!
@@KQEDDeepLookfeels like yesterday lol
I wonder how to capture this kind of footage :D
I like the puns at the end 😂
2:58 flex seal guy is probably taking notes
So if I understood this right, in our bodies, this material connects muscles to bones, but in the ocean, it connects mussels to rocks
This Mussel is Spiderman
Wow that's amazing!!
Thank you! Cheers Kim!
@@KQEDDeepLook you're welcome I'm loving the channel so much!
These mussels are hairier than my dad's beard
Thought you were gonna say something else than "beard"
2:54
Does this make mussels the Phil Swifts of the sea??
This is our fav. Dish in the Philippines. TAHONG 🤤😛
I always felt bad about the sea life that got sucked into strainers and coolers on the boat, but honestly I never felt bad about barnacles dying, probably because they cut my hands up on the regular
abyssal thread more like an rpg skill
Quite a week for mussels. Yesterday Ze Frank and today DL and it’s only Tuesday 😅
We love Ze Frank!
Should I feel guilty that this video made me hungry for mussels?
It’s complicated.
It's the mucus that bind us... 😀
It sounds delicious!
I mean: interesting.
WE DO HAVE A GLUE LIKE THAT, its called "Super Glue" cyano-acrylate