Translations:AY Honors/Shells - Advanced/Answer Key/105/en

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byssus threads on Dreissena polymorpha

Mussels use byssus to attach to rocks and other surfaces. When a mussel's foot encounters a crevice, it creates a vacuum chamber by forcing out the air and arching up, similar to a plumber's plunger unclogging a drain. The byssus, made of keratin and other proteins, is spewed into this chamber, and bubbles into a sticky foam. By curling its foot into a tube and pumping the foam, the mussel produces sticky threads about the size of a human hair. It varnishes the threads with another protein, resulting in an adhesive.