The blue mussels along the Brazilian and Colombian coasts of South America traversing the Panama Canal have reached coastal waters here by way of the tropical Eastern Pacific. Dr. Michael Rice, a professor of the Department of Fisheries, Animal and Veterinary Sciences at the University of Rhode Island told The STAR in an e-mail recently that the blue mussels found in Pangasinan were identical to the shellfish in the Eastern Pacific. “They are Mytella charruana, the Charru mussel that are identical to a strain found from Mazatlan, Mexico to Ecuador in the Eastern Pacific,” he said.

Visperas, E. (2015, December 31). Blue mussels reach Pangasinan coast. The Philippine Star, p. B-4.