From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishmusselmus‧sel /ˈmʌsəl/ noun [countable] 
HBADFFa small sea animal with a soft body that can be eaten and a black shell that is divided into two parts
HBADFFa small sea animal with a soft body that can be eaten and a black shell that is divided into two partsExamples from the Corpus
mussel• Reduce by about a third, then add cream and mussels and cover.• Not until I understood the inextricable connection between mussels and crabs was I able to see both crabs and mussels at once.• They are best used for cocktail savouries, but the cheaper mussels make a very tasty pasta sauce.• To vary the casserole, add 3-4 prepared scallops or a small jar of drained mussels.• I see increasing numbers of anemones and a couple of empty mussel shells.• You can also try beef heart, mussel, chicken, liver prawn and the like.• Divide the mussels and prawns between the plates.• The linguini with mussels marinara was yet another marvel.Origin mussel Old English muscelle, from Latin musculus “little mouse, muscle, mussel” ( → MUSCLE1); because it looks like a mouse 