Nature & Tora

If you've been to the beach, you've probably noticed black, oblong shells on the beach. They are mussels, a type of mollusk, and are a popular but un-kosher seafood. Our interest is not in how they taste but rather what they produce. Located under their "foot" they produce what is called bysall or byssus threads.

Byssal, or byssus, threads are strong, silky fibers that are made from proteins that are used by mussels and other bivalves to attach to rocks, pilings or other substrates. These animals produce their byssal threads using a byssus gland, located within the organism's foot. Mollusks can move slowly by extending a byssal thread, using it as an anchor and then shortening it.

The byssal threads from some animals, such as the pen shell, were once used to weave into a golden cloth.

According to some seafood enthusiasts, these threads are known as the animal's "beard," and are removed before cooking. However, most of the time, they are gone by the time you find the shells washed up on the beach.

Enjoy learning and taking our beloved Tora with you where ever you go.

This coccus ilicis ‘worm’ is a very special ‘worm’.
When the time has arrived for the female coccus ilicis to bare her young:

• she attaches herself to a tree or branch.
• she attaches herself so strongly, that she is unable to detach herself.
• while doing so she makes a hard shield to protect the little eggs she lays under herself.
• when the larvae hatch, they live protected under her body and feed themselves with their living mother.
• when the little young worms are able to look after themselves after a few days, the mother dies.
  A scarlet red liquid leaks out at that moment, which colors not only the wood to which they are attached, but the little young worms as well, for the rest of their lives.
• three days after the death of the mother, her body loses its scarlet red color and changes into a kind of white wax, which falls to the ground like snow.