1. Gef Flimlin Rutgers Cooperative Extension
Is your muse a mollusc?
Gef Flimlin
Rutgers Cooperative Extension

2. Phylum Mollusca 101 93,000 recognized species
Nine or ten taxonomic classes (2 are extinct)
Cephalopods….squid, cuttlefish, octopus
Gastropods….conch, whelks, snails, abalone, and slugs
Bivalves….clams, oysters, scallops, mussels
And others, that we really don’t care about.

3. Cephalopods

4. Gastropods

5. Bivalve Molluscs (our favorites)

6. So what’s a Muse?
According to 10th Edition Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary:
Muse, n. 1. cap: any of the nine sister goddesses in Greek mythology presiding over song and poetry, and the arts and sciences.
2. a source of inspiration; esp : a guiding genius
3: poet

7. So what’s a Muse?
In Greek mythology, the Muses are a sisterhood of goddesses or spirits, their number set at nine by Classical times, who embody the arts and inspire the creation process with their graces through remembered and improvised song and stage, writing, traditional music, and dance.

8. So who are the Muses? Calliope (epic poetry) carries a writing tablet
Clio (history) carries a scroll and books
Erato (love poetry) has a lyre and a crown of roses
Euterpe (music) carries a flute
Melpomene (tragedy) is seen with a tragic mask
Polyhymnia (sacred poetry) has a pensive expression
Terpsichore (dance) is often seen dancing and carrying a lyre
Thalia (comedy) is often seen with a comic mask
Urania (astronomy) carries a pair of compasses and celestial globe.

9. So who are the Muses?
Botticelli’s Primavera 1482
Three Graces

10. So who are the Muses? Raffaello’s The Three Graces 1505
Hesiod and the Muse
The Three Muses (Louvre)
Melpomene and Polynhymnia

11. Now back to mollusks, specifically, Shellfish.

12. So what do we do with them?
Harvest them.
Prepare them.
EAT THEM!!!!
Build businesses around them
Study them (Show me the money!!!!)
Regulate them.
Make cool stuff from them.
Have jokes about them.

13. Harvest them

14. Harvest them

15. Prepare them

16. Prepare them

17. Eat them

18. Eat them

19. Eat them

20. Eat them for fun

21. Quick quiz just for the men.

22. Quick quiz just for the men.?
How many oysters were on the oyster plate?

23. Answer:

24. Who Cares? They’re just two of the MUSES!!!!
Answer:
Who Cares?
They’re just two of the MUSES!!!!

25. Moving right along…….

26. Research Them

27. Regulate them 2006 total US mollusc landings value: $780,390,000
With an economic multiplier of 4 that’s about $3.12 billion per year (or about a week for the war in Iraq and Afghanistan.)

28. Build businesses around them

29. Build businesses around them

30. Build businesses around them

31. Wear them

32. Wear them

33. Make cool (and weird) stuff from them

34. Make cool (and weird) stuff from them

35. Make cool (and weird) stuff from them

36. Make cool (and weird) stuff from them

37. Have jokes about them

38. Have jokes about them

39. Make jokes about them

40. But Why?

41. For poet and "law-giver" Solon, Muses were "the key to the good life"; since they brought both prosperity and friendship.

42. Prosperity and Friendship

43. So why are molluscs your muse?

44. So why are molluscs your muse?
I asked the question and these were some of the answers.

45. My Muses
Stan Cottrell, Waretown NJ

46. My Muses
William Pierson Jenks
Brick NJ

47. My Muses
George Washington Mathis
New Gretna, NJ

48. We do this because we are caring people
We do this because we are caring people. We care about the planet, we care about it’s resources, we feel connected to the earth. We try to do our part for the shellfish and for those who make their livings and feed their families from these resources.
It could have been pigs, or butterflies, or rivers, but it wasn’t. For some strange event, some chance meeting, or twist of fate, we have all chosen molluscs as our muses.
And we are glad we did.

49. Thank you.