Origin: Indo-Pacific.
Previously known, in Mediterranean, from the Iskenderun area only, the species has now crossed the Corinth Canal. It lives attached on gorgonians, ropes, woods or other shells, from the surface down to at least 30m deep.
Original taxon: Mytilus frons, before Ostrea frons.
This cluster was found attached to a rope, northwestern shore of Vouliagmeni marine lake, west of Perachora, Loutraki area, northeastern Korinthia, Greece, september 2017. 44mm.
« A West Indian shell ; introduced by Dr. Turton, as it had been taken alive on the bottom of a foreign vessel. The specimen in his cabinet is not the true crista-galli as he imagined, but a characteristic example of the long lost frons of Linnaeus. » – Forbes & Hanley: A history of British Mollusca and their shells, London 1853, via BHL.
The chomata (expressed here by small bright white dots along the margins) are restricted to the hinge area in the left valve (top image), but extend to the ventral margin in the right valve (bottom image). Width about 3cm.
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