Higher Classification: > Kingdom Animalia > Subkingdom Eumetazoa > Phylum Mollusca > Class Bivalvia > Subclass Autobranchia > Infraclass Pteriomorphia > Order Mytilida > Superfamily Mytiloidea > Family Modiolidae > Subfamily Modiolinae > Genus Modiolus

Modiolus modiolus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Rank: Species
Taxon Status: accepted

Relationships towards this taxon

Genus group names

*Modiolus*	Lamarck, 1799	accepted genus name
*Modiola*	[sic]	synonym
*Modiola (Gibbomodiola)*	Sacco, 1898	synonym
*Volsella*	Scopoli, 1777	synonym

Species group names

*Modiola gallica*	Dautzenberg, 1895	synonym
*Modiola modiolus*	(Linnaeus, 1758)	synonym
*Modiola modiolus var. minor*	Cailliaud, 1865	synonym
*Modiola vulgaris*	J. Fleming, 1828	synonym
*Modiolus gallicus*	(Dautzenberg, 1895)	synonym
*Mytilus curtus*	Pennant, 1777	synonym
*Mytilus curvirostratus*	da Costa, 1778	synonym
*Mytilus modiolus*	Linnaeus, 1758	synonym
*Mytilus modiolus var. ovata*	Jeffreys, 1864	synonym
*Mytilus umbilicatus*	Pennant, 1777	synonym

Vernaculars (+) (-)

Danish: almindelig hestemusling sources: PESI (A Pan-European Species directories Infrastructure) focal points

Dutch: gewone paardenmossel; paardenmossel sources: PESI (A Pan-European Species directories Infrastructure) focal points;Hayward, P.; Nelson-Smith, A.; Shields, C. (1999). Gids van kust en strand: flora en fauna [Coast and beach guide: flora and fauna]. Tirion: Baarn, Netherlands. ISBN 90-5210-327-5. 352, ill. pp.

English: horse mussel; horse-mussel; Northern horse mussel; northern horsemussel sources: Lindner, G. (1999). Schelpengids: schelpen uit de wereldzeeën, vorm, voorkomen, systematiek [The shell guide: shells from the world oceans, shape, distribution and systematics]. Tirion: Baarn, The Netherlands. ISBN 90-5210-409-3. 320 pp.;PESI (A Pan-European Species directories Infrastructure) focal points;Volvenko, I. V.; Orlov, A. M.; Gebruk, A. V.; Katugin, O. N.; Ogorodnikova, A. A.; Vinogradov, G. M.; Maznikova, O. A. (2019). Checklist of the trawl macrofauna from the North Pacific and adjacent seas with information about fishery importance, potential product yield, and price range, supplement to: Volvenko, Igor V; Orlov, Alexei M; Gebruk, Andrey V; Katugin, Oleg N; Ogorodnikova, Alla A; Vinogradov, Georgy M; Maznikova, Olga A (in prep.): Trawl macrofauna of the Far-Eastern Seas and North Pacific: proportion of commercial species, potential product yield, and price rang. Earth System Science Data. PANGAEA - Data Publisher for Earth & Environmental Science.;North-West Atlantic Ocean species (NWARMS)

French: grande moule; modiole sources: Lindner, G. (1999). Schelpengids: schelpen uit de wereldzeeën, vorm, voorkomen, systematiek [The shell guide: shells from the world oceans, shape, distribution and systematics]. Tirion: Baarn, The Netherlands. ISBN 90-5210-409-3. 320 pp.;Muller, Y. (2004). Faune et flore du littoral du Nord, du Pas-de-Calais et de la Belgique: inventaire. [Coastal fauna and flora of the Nord, Pas-de-Calais and Belgium: inventory]. Commission Régionale de Biologie Région Nord Pas-de-Calais: France. 307 pp.

German: grose Miesmuschel; Große Miesmuschel; Pferdemuschel sources: Lindner, G. (1999). Schelpengids: schelpen uit de wereldzeeën, vorm, voorkomen, systematiek [The shell guide: shells from the world oceans, shape, distribution and systematics]. Tirion: Baarn, The Netherlands. ISBN 90-5210-409-3. 320 pp.;Cole, T. C. H. (2017). Wörterbuch der Wirbellosen / Dictionary of Invertebrates. Latein-Deutsch-English. 2017. Springer Spektrum: Berlin. ISBN 978-3-662-52869-3. XII, 574 pp.;Unterwasser-Welt Ostsee

Norwegian Bokmål: o-skjell sources: PESI (A Pan-European Species directories Infrastructure) focal points

Norwegian Nynorsk: o-skjel sources: PESI (A Pan-European Species directories Infrastructure) focal points

Russian: Модиолус обыкновенный sources: Volvenko, I. V.; Orlov, A. M.; Gebruk, A. V.; Katugin, O. N.; Ogorodnikova, A. A.; Vinogradov, G. M.; Maznikova, O. A. (2019). Checklist of the trawl macrofauna from the North Pacific and adjacent seas with information about fishery importance, potential product yield, and price range, supplement to: Volvenko, Igor V; Orlov, Alexei M; Gebruk, Andrey V; Katugin, Oleg N; Ogorodnikova, Alla A; Vinogradov, Georgy M; Maznikova, Olga A (in prep.): Trawl macrofauna of the Far-Eastern Seas and North Pacific: proportion of commercial species, potential product yield, and price rang. Earth System Science Data. PANGAEA - Data Publisher for Earth & Environmental Science.

Swedish: hästmussla

Literature

basis of record	Gofas, S.; Le Renard, J.; Bouchet, P. (2001). Mollusca. in: Costello, M.J. et al. (eds), European Register of Marine Species: a check-list of the marine species in Europe and a bibliography of guides to their identification. Patrimoines Naturels. 50: 180-213.
additional source	Huber, M. (2010). Compendium of bivalves. A full-color guide to 3,300 of the world's marine bivalves. A status on Bivalvia after 250 years of research. Hackenheim: ConchBooks. 901 pp., 1 CD-ROM.
additional source	Brown, R. A. (1984). Geographical variations in the reproduction of the horse mussel,Modiolus modiolus(Mollusca: Bivalvia). Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. 64(4): 751-770.
additional source	Fariñas-Franco, J.; Roberts, D. (2023). The embryonic and larval development of the long-lived, keystone mussel Modiolus modiolus: Implications for its restoration using conservation aquaculture. Aquaculture. 567: 739245.
additional source	Anwar N.A., Richardson C.A. & Seed R. (1990). Age determination, growth rate and population structure of the horse mussel Modiolus modiolus. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 70(2): 441-457
additional source	De Schweinitz, E. H. & Lutz, R. A. (1976). Larval development of the northern horse mussel, Modiolus modiolus (L.), including a comparison with the larvae of Mytilus edulis L. as an aid in planktonic identification. The Biological Bulletin. 150(3): 348-360.
additional source	Halanych, K. M.; Vodoti, E. T.; Sundberg, P.; Dahlgren, T. G. (2013). Phylogeography of the horse mussel Modiolus modiolus. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. 93(7): 1857-1869.
additional source	Dinesen G.E. & Bruntse G. 2001, Modiolus modiolus beds, pp. 33-36 In: Bruntse G. & Tendal O.S. (eds), Marine biological investigations and assemblages of benthic invertebrates from the Faroe Islands. Kaldbak Marine Biological Laboratory,

Genbank

External Links

Marine Life Information Network - UK

Citation

MolluscaBase eds. (2025). MolluscaBase. Modiolus modiolus (Linnaeus, 1758). Via: Costello, M.J.; Bouchet, P.; Boxshall, G.; Arvantidis, C.; Appeltans, W. (2011) European Register of Marine Species, Accessed through PESI at http://www.eu-nomen.eu/portal/taxon.php?GUID=urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:140467