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Aulacomya atra

Aulacomya atra

(Molina, 1782)
Cholga

Family: Mytilidae
Order: Mytiloida
Class: Bivalvia
Phylum / Division: Mollusca
Kingdom: Animalia

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Records from Ushuaia


Description


Aulacomya atra, called also the Magellan mussel or the ribbed mussel, is a southern species of edible saltwater mussel, a marine bivalve mollusk in the family Mytilidae, the true mussels. Note that the common name ribbed mussel is also used of the Northern Hemisphere mussel Geukensia demissa.

Aulacomya atra is native in South America - in Peru, Chile (where it grows up to 170 mm in length), the Falkland Islands and Argentina. It is also found on the coasts of New Zealand and southern Africa, from Namibia to Port Alfred, South Africa, from the intertidal to 40 m. Introduced specimens have been found in Moray Firth, Scotland.
In Southern Africa the species grows up to 90 mm in length. It usually lives in crowded intertidal beds. Individual animals have brown ribbed shells, which darken to black with age.

Source: Wikipedia, article Aulacomya atra. Content adapted from Wikipedia, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license. Accessed on 16/07/2026.





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Foto
Photography ID: 193600
  Adult

Ushuaia
Tierra del Fuego
Argentina
02/13/2017
Alec Earnshaw



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Page 1
Record IDDateExact timeCountryProvince / departmentPlaceFilmedPhotographedRecorded vocalObservedHeardWounded or deadNumber of individualsUser or BibliographyDetail
85690324/10/2018ArgentinaTierra del FuegoUshuaiaNicolas Olejnik
55100313/02/2017ArgentinaTierra del FuegoSendero Ea. Tunel, UshuaiaAlec Earnshaw
Page 1

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Recommended citation
Please use the following reference when citing this species account.
EcoRegistros. 2026. Aulacomya atra – Species account. Accessed from www.ecoregistros.org on 14/09/2026.