Bearded Horse Mussel

About this species

Modiolus areolatus, or the bearded horse mussel, is a species of bivalve mollusc in the family Mytilidae (mussels). It is found in New Zealand, and its shell typically is 90 millimetres (3.5 in).

Text from the Wikipedia article “Modiolus areolatus”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 123 records
February: 83 records
March: 82 records
April: 89 records
May: 96 records
June: 36 records
July: 54 records
August: 58 records
September: 87 records
October: 103 records
November: 98 records
December: 57 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 0–126 m · Deepest record: 1,026 m

0–10 m: 134 records
10–20 m: 25 records
20–30 m: 24 records
30–40 m: 23 records
40–50 m: 19 records
50–60 m: 12 records
60–70 m: 13 records
70–80 m: 24 records
80–90 m: 18 records
90–100 m: 15 records
100–110 m: 12 records
110+ m: 52 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 8–29 °C

6–8 °C: 15 records
8–10 °C: 47 records
10–12 °C: 27 records
12–14 °C: 97 records
14–16 °C: 256 records
16–18 °C: 44 records
18–20 °C: 35 records
20–22 °C: 25 records
22–24 °C: 21 records
24–26 °C: 2 records
26–28 °C: 8 records
28–30 °C: 2 records

Photos

(c) Julia Palmer, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) Kelvin Perrie, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Saryu Mae 前朝琉, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Luca Davenport-Thomas, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Javier, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Javier, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Tim, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Bearded Horse Mussel, Broad Horse Mussel, New Zealand Hairy Mussel

Other scientific names: Modiolus cottoni, Modiolus peronianus, Mytilus (Modiola) areolatus, Mytilus areolatus

Similar species

Horse mussel
Modiolus modiolus
Ear mussel
Modiolus auriculatus
Modiolus nipponicus
Narrow Horse Mussel
Modiolus albicosta
Philippine Horse Mussel
Modiolus philippinarum
Winged Horse Mussel
Modiolus modulaides

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
1,213 open-data records from 1874 to 2020.
Species data updated November 4, 2026.