Purplish Bifurcate Mussel

Mytilisepta virgata

Molluscs
IUCN: Not evaluated

Usual depth0 m
Water temperature14–29 °C
Best monthsApril and May
How commonOccasional

All species

Photo credit: (c) mister_bumble, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

Loading the map

Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 7 records
February: 12 records
March: 12 records
April: 55 records
May: 43 records
June: 25 records
July: 28 records
August: 16 records
September: 8 records
October: 4 records
November: 4 records
December: 13 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 0 m · Deepest record: 0 m

0–10 m: 1 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 14–29 °C

12–14 °C: 3 records
14–16 °C: 0 records
16–18 °C: 0 records
18–20 °C: 14 records
20–22 °C: 0 records
22–24 °C: 591 records
24–26 °C: 20 records
26–28 °C: 1 records
28–30 °C: 1 records

Photos

(c) mister_bumble, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Mikhail Nevsky, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) harum.koh, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) harum.koh, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) W Rao, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Purplish Bifurcate Mussel

Names in 3 more languages

Japanese: イギャア, シユリガイ, マルコ, ムラサキインコ
Korean: 굵은줄격판담치
Simplified Chinese: 條紋隔貽貝

Other scientific names: Dreissena purpurascens, Septifer crassus, Septifer herrmannseni, Septifer virgatus, Tichogonia virgata

Similar species

Asian date mussel
Arcuatula senhousia
Bay mussel
Mytilus edulis
Galician mussel
Mytilus galloprovincialis
New Zealand Ribbed Mussel
Aulacomya maoriana
Austromytilus rostratus
Eroded Beaked Mussel
Brachidontes erosus

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.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
1,293 open-data records from 1958 to 2026.
Species data updated November 4, 2026.

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