Skip to main content
family Mytilidae

family Mytilidae

7.5
A group of sea mussels that attach to rocks
  • noun
  • /ˈfæmɪli ˌmɪtɪˈleɪdi/
  • Specialized
: familia Mytilidae
  • The blue mussel, a member of the family Mytilidae, is widely used in aquaculture around the world.

Examples

  • Researchers studied how pollution affected populations of the family Mytilidae along the rocky shoreline.

  • Many species within the family Mytilidae play an important role in marine ecosystems as filter feeders.

  • The family Mytilidae includes various species of mussels.

  • Did you know that the family Mytilidae can be found worldwide?

  • Many species within the family Mytilidae play a vital role in marine ecosystems as filter feeders.

  • Researchers studied how pollution affected populations of the family Mytilidae along the rocky shoreline.

  • The blue mussel, a member of the family Mytilidae, is an important species in aquaculture worldwide.

Synonyms

Mytilidae
vsfamily Mytilidae
  • Specialized
9.9

A family of sea mussels that live in oceans and estuaries worldwide

is narrower, focusing on those attached to rocks in seawater

Surface Forms

Morphology

family + Mytilidae

The phrase is fully compositional: 'family' denotes a taxonomic grouping and 'Mytilidae' names a group of bivalve mollusks, so together they clearly mean 'the family Mytilidae (a family of mussels)'. Taxonomic constructions of the form 'family + NAME' are standard and cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can readily infer the meaning.

Etymology

The name family Mytilidae comes from the old Greek word mytilos, which meant 'mussel'. So today family Mytilidae means the group of sea mussels that live on rocks and filter food from the water.