Atlantic Sea Scallop

Appearance

Scallops are bivalves (having two shells), like clams and oysters. The shells are held together by the adductor muscle (the part of the scallop Americans typically eat). Sea scallops have a saucer-shaped shell with scalloped or fluted edges. The upper shell is usually reddish-pink or brown in color. The lower shell is white or cream.

Biology

Sea scallops can live up to 20 years. They grow quickly for the first few years of their life. The largest scallop ever reported was about 9 inches in shell height, but they typically don’t grow larger than 6 inches. Sea scallops can reproduce by age 2, but don’t produce many eggs or sperm until they are about 4 years old. They are very fertile—a female sea scallop can produce hundreds of millions of eggs per year.

Where They Live

Range Atlantic sea scallops are found in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean, from Newfoundland to Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. Habitat Adult scallops live close together in groups called “beds,” on sandy or gravelly parts of the ocean floor. They are generally found at depths of about 100 to 300 feet on Georges Bank and in the Mid-Atlantic. Sea scallops can be found in shallower waters in Maine and Canada.