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Learn interesting scallop facts about anatomy, swimming, history, symbolism, and more in this guide for seafood lovers.
From a culinary perspective, the scallop is one of the most distinctive and delectable bivalve mollusks. Chefs and food lovers delight in their unique, meaty texture and relative ease of preparation when compared to their bivalve cousins.
The largest wild scallop fishery is for the Atlantic sea scallop (Placopecten magellanicus) found off the northeastern United States and eastern Canada. Scallops are harvested using scallop dredges or bottom trawls.
They have a distinctive fanned-out shell and up to 100 small blue eyes along their shell's opening. Peak scallop season is in late fall and winter, although they are available year-round. When cooking, sea scallops are ideal for searing, while bay scallops are best for quick sautés and broiling.
Their primary predators are starfish, particularly species like the common starfish (Asterias rubens) and the purple sea star (Pisaster ochraceus), which pry open the scallop’s shell using their tube feet and digest their inner tissues.
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There are many varieties of scallop, but the most common is the tiny bay scallop, found in East Coast bays and estuaries, and the larger sea scallop, which exists in deep, cold waters on the ocean floor.
