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ANECDOTES ON ST. JACQUES SHELLS
The scallop, during the pilgrimages to Santiago de Compostela, were signs of protection on their bags, as well as evidence of the journey, because the pilgrims collected them on the beaches during their walk, it is also said that the shells were used as a container for eating and drinking.
Today, the scallop is sought after, cooked, revisited, celebrated!
They have eyes!
Researchers at the Weizmann Institute in Israel published an astonishing study in the journal Science.
The scallops would have eyes about 1 mm in diameter at the edge of the shell. These are multiple concave mirrors that reflect light back to the animal's retina, rather than two biological lenses like in humans or animals. This system of mirrors made up of cubes actually resembles the mirrors of large telescopes.
The scallop has a very wide field of vision, around 250 degrees. The great complexity of the visual organ of the scallop is one of the most sophisticated that we know!
The shell is hermaphrodite
Like many molluscs, the scallop of the genus Pecten practices hermaphroditism. It is a synchronous hermaphroditism, that is to say that the animal produces at the same time the two types of gametes: male and female (spermatozoa and ova).
When you buy a scallop, there are two parts: the adductor muscle of the shell, a sort of round white column with a fine taste, and the "coral" sometimes removed because it is a little less tasty.