Sampling of Mediterranean fan mussel specimens (Pinna nobilis) for molecular analyses of the byssus and of the shell matrix

This document describes a field mission carried out in May 2017, at the Observatoire Océanologique de Villefranche-sur-Mer. This mission aimed at collecting live specimens as well as dead shells from the Mediterranean fan mussel, Pinna nobilis, an endemic species protected by European Directive 92/43 / EEC.
After obtaining the necessary authorizations from the DDTM of the Alpes Maritimes, the mission consisted in collecting 3 types of samples, via underwater dives in the Bay of Villefranche-sur-Mer and in the surrounding of the Lérins Islands:
- Byssus of live specimens, collected on site, without any displacement nor damage of the specimens.
- Shells of dead specimens, juvenile and adult.
- Live juvenile specimens, which have been acclimated in the basin for several days before sacrifice and removal of calcifying mantles, byssus glands and various organs for subsequent molecular analyses (high thoughput transcriptome sequencing)