rhamphotheca:

Discoveries in Scottish Seas:  Horse Mussels, Anemones, et al. 

by Christine Dell’Amore

A horse mussel surrounded by sea-loch anemones is one of the “weird, wonderful” finds—including brainless “fish”—made in Scottish seas in 2011, the Scottish government announced in December.

Scotland’s largest known conglomeration of horse mussels—known as claddbydhhu, or “enormous black mouth,” in Gaelic—was found near Noss Head (map). The slow-growing mollusks, which can live up to 50 years, are among the known, if rare, species spotted during 15 ocean surveys sponsored by the Scottish government last year.

Covering 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometers) of ocean, the surveys used new technology, including acoustic multibeam scanners that created 3-D images of the seabed… 

(read more: National Geo)     (photo: Scottish Natural Heritage)