Review of Related Literature

The Philippine Green Mussels

Perna viridis is one among the number of species under class bivalvia and phylum
mollusc. This mussel is often confused with Glauconome, but commands lower market prices
(http://mangrove.nus.edu.sg/pub/seashore/text/158.htm). This can be identified from other
species in class bivalvia with its some distinguishing characteristics and features/

Physical Characteristics. Perna viridis is a large mussel. 80-100 mm in length,

occasionally reaching 167mm (Rajagopal et al. 2005). Green mussels are bivalves.

Figure 1 Perna viridis (Benson et al., 2006)

Shells are closed hinged by one or two adductor muscles with strong ligaments (De Victor &
Knott, 2002). Its shell has a smooth exterior surface characterized by concentric growth lines
and slightly concave ventral margin. The shell is covered with greenish (variable in older
mussels) periostracum. Periostracum is generally intact in young ones and with patches
peeled off in older ones (ISSG, 2005). The perostracum is bright green in juveniles, fading to
brown with green edges as it matures. The inner shell surface is smooth and bluish green hue.
The ligaments connecting the two valves are supported by the ridges. Its retractor muscles
are large kidney-shaped. Anterior adductor muscle is absent in this species. The foot is
gererally laterally compressed with no operculum (De Victor and Knott, UNDATED:
NIMPIS,2002).

Distribution. Perna viridis is a bivalve mussel native to Asia-Pacific region where it is

widely distributed, IT has been introduced elsewhere around the world through ship ballast,
hull fouling and experimental introduction for farming (Benson et al.., 2006). It has the
potential to have increased its geographical distribution by step-wise larval dispersal, or
“island hopping” (Sidall, 1980). In July 2001, Asian green mussels Perna viridis were found on
the hull of a vessel in Cairns harbour in north Queensland. Recently, these have been
introduced to the Caribbean (Trinidad, ND), The Gulf of Mexico (Tampay Bay), and the
southeast Atlantic coast of the US (Florida and Georgia) (De Victor and Knott, UNDATED:
NIMPIS,2002).
Habitat. Generally, Perna viridis intertidal, subtidal and estuarine environments
with high salinity, Perna viridis attaches to hard substrata but is capable of relocating.
According to De Victor and Knott (2002), dense colonies can develop in optimal
temperature and salinity conditions, sometimes with thousands of individuals per square
meter. Perna species appear to thrive in intake pipes of industrial plants, where they may
interfere with operation (DeVictor and Knott, UNDATED: NIMPIS, 2002).

Perna viridis forms dense populations (up to 35,000 individuals per square metre)
on a variety of structures including vessels, wharves, mariculture equipment, buoys and other
hard substrata (DeVictor and Knott, UNDATED: NIMPIS, 2002).NIMPIS found out that Perna
viridis is susceptible to overgrowth from the fouling organisms that make it difficult to detect
despite its vivid green appearance, Primarily found in estuarine habitats with salinities
ranging from 18-38 ppt and temperatures from 11-32 °c, Perna viridis has a broad salinity and
temperature tolerance (DeVictor and Knott, UNDATED: NIMPIS, 2002).

Commercial and Ecological Significance. Perna viridis is harvested commercially

in the Indo-Pacific as a human food resource due to its dense and fast growth (DeVictor and
Knott, UNDATED: NIMPIS, 2002). Green mussels are farmed commercially in Thailand, the
Philippines and New Zealand (Hickman, 1989), In China, the Philippines, and Malaysia the
green mussel is hihly priced as food (http://research.myfave.com). It can provide cheap
source if protein. It is not recommended for consumption when found in areas like Tampa
Bay because of its exposure to harbour toxins, parasites and other health risks. The bivalve
has also been used as an indicator of bio pollution of heavy metals, organochlorines, and
petroleum hydrocarbons.

General Impacts. Because of its dispersed spawning nature, lack of local

predators, fast growth, and high tolerance of environmental conditions, the mussel
population is expected to expand in Atlantic habitats until it reaches its thermal limit
(DeVictor and Knott, UNDATED: NIMPIS, 2002). The mussels may clog water pipes (restricting
flow) and accumulate on boar hulls, pilings, buoys and other man-made structures, De
Victor and Knott (UNDATED) stated that in the sense manner, the mussels may clog crab
traps and clam culture bags, making the commercial harvest of these native species more
difficult. There are conflicting views on the potential impact on local oyster species, Green
mussels and oysters generally occupy different habitats, but it is likely that their populations
may overlap (DeVictor and Knott, UNDATED: NIMPIS, 2002).
New Direction. Aside from source of food, mussels are known best to people
from their shells and the pearls they produce, throughout history, pearls have been treasured
and used in jewelry and other decorations
(http://www.ups.gov/archive/miss/features/mussels). Mussel shells are fashioned into bowls,
spoons and variety of tools and utensils. Mussel shells were also harvested and cut for use of
buttons. But not all mussels are the same. Some mussels cannot make pearls and not artistic
enough for ornamental purposes.

Other uses of Calcium Carbonate in Other Products.

Calcium carbonate, or CaCO3, comprises more than 4% of the earth’s crust and is found
throughout the world. Its most common natural forms are chalk, limestone, and marble,
produced by the sedimentation of the shells of small fossilized snails, shellfish, and coral over
millions of years. Although all three forms are identical in chemical terms, they differ in many
other respects, including purity, whiteness, thickness and homogeneity. Calcium carbonate
is one of the most useful and versatile materials known to man.

Many of us encounter calcium carbonate for the first time in the school classroom, where we
use blackboard chalk. Chalk has been used as a writing tool for over 10,000 years and is a
fine, microcrystalline material. As limestone, calcium carbonate is a biogenic rock, and is
more compacted than chalk. As marble, calcium carbonate is a coarse-crystalline,
metamorphic rock, which is formed when chalk or limestone is recrystallised under conditions
of high temperature and pressure. Large deposits of marble are found in North America and
in Europe; e.g., in Carrara, Italy, the home of the pure white "statuario" from which
Michelangelo created his sculptures.

Calcium carbonate, as it is used for industrial purposes, is extracted by mining or quarrying.

Pure calcium carbonate can be produced from marble, or it can be prepared by passing
carbon dioxide into a solution of calcium hydroxide. In the later case calcium carbonate is
derived from the mixture, forming a grade of product called "precipitated calcium
carbonate,” or PCC. PCC has a very fine and controlled particle size, on the order of 2
microns in diameter, particularly useful in production of paper. The other primary type of
industrial product is "ground calcium carbonate,” or GCC. GCC, as the name implies,
involves crushing and processing limestone to create a powdery-like form graded by size
and other properties for many different industrial and pharmaceutical applications.

A study of calcium carbonate provides important lessons about the history of the earth, since
chalk, limestone and marble trace their origin to shallow water. Thus, observation that large
amounts of chalk deposits of the same age are found on many continents led to the
discovery that there existed a period in which there was shallow water world-wide where
shelled organisms thrived. Some offer this as proof for the Biblical flood. Nature returns the
favor as calcium carbonate solutions from current deposits provide living organisms today
with the material they need to grow their protective shells and skeletons. Eggshells, for
example, are composed of approximately 95% calcium carbonate.

Calcium carbonate causes a unique reaction with acids. Upon contact with an acid - no
matter the strength - it produces carbon dioxide. This provides geologists with a reliable test
to identify calcium carbonate. This same phenomenon is important to the formation of
caves. Acidic rain water runs off and goes underground where it dissolves the calcium
carbonate limestone. The calcium carbonate water runs down and eventually reaches an
air-filled cavity underground where the carbon dioxide can be released. When it is released,
the calcium carbonate crystallizes again. Stalactite and stalagmite formations are created
when water containing calcium carbonate drips, leaving some mineral at the source of the
drip at the roof of the cave and some where it falls. This is an extremely long process, and
often takes place over many thousands of years.

As interesting as calcium carbonate may be in nature, its impact and value to our everyday
life are truly extraordinary.

Paper, Plastics, Paints, and Coatings: Calcium carbonate is the most widely used mineral in
the paper, plastics, paints and coatings industries both as a filler – and due to its special
white color - as a coating pigment. In the paper industry it is valued worldwide for its high
brightness and light scattering characteristics, and is used as an inexpensive filler to make
bright opaque paper. Filler is used at the wet-end of paper making machines, and calcium
carbonate filler allows for the paper to be bright and smooth. As an extender, calcium
carbonate can represent as much as 30% by weight in paints. Calcium carbonate also is
used widely as a filler in adhesives, and sealants.

Personal Health and Food Production: Calcium carbonate is used widely as an effective
dietary calcium supplement, antacid, phosphate binder, or base material for medicinal
tablets. It also is found on many grocery store shelves in products such as baking powder,
toothpaste, dry-mix dessert mixes, dough, and wine. Calcium carbonate is the active
ingredient in agricultural lime, and is used in animal feed. Calcium carbonate also benefits
the environment through water and waste treatment. (https://www.ima-
na.org/page/what_is_calcium_carb)