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Byssus
(redirected from Byssal thread)

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Wikipedia 0.01 sec.
Byssus 

(1) An excretion of the byssal gland, found in the so-called feet of many bivalve mollusks. Immediately upon expulsion, byssus hardens and forms durable silky filaments by which mollusks fasten themselves to underwater objects. In antiquity a special cloth, vysson, was prepared from the byssus excreted by the large mollusk pinna.

(2) A roe disease of freshwater fish caused by certain fungi of the genera Saprolegnia and Achy la.



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For the adhesive to work as imagined, it would have to mimic the properties of the byssal threads.
Mussels, before they end up on a seafood lover's plate, use fibers known as byssal threads to tether themselves (SN: 1/5/91, p.
 
 
 
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