Those blue dots are eyes: scallops can have up to 200 of them. Each eye focuses light with a curved mirror made from tiny crystals.

The mirrors work rather like those in a miniature reflecting telescope. A scallop can have an array of these crystal mirrors, one for each of its many eyes.

Scallops see with mirrors

The bright blue eyes lining a scallop’s mantle — Matthew Krummins / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0. Original photograph resized.

A whole scallop with its shell open and eyes around the mantle — Ceri Jones / Haven Diving Services, via Weizmann Institute of Science.

Microscope views of the square guanine crystals that tile a scallop’s eye mirror — Palmer and collaborators / Weizmann Institute of Science; original research figure and scale bars retained.

Scallops see with mirrors

Explore related topics