Patinopecten yessoensis (Yesso scallop, Giant Ezo scallop, Ezo giant scallop) is a species of scallop. Its name Yesso/Ezo refers to its being found north of Japan. They are marine bivalve mollusks in the family Pectinidae, the scallops.
This species is found around the far eastern Asian coast, from China, Korea, Japan and Sakhalin, and possibly as far north as the Kamchatka Peninsula and the Aleutian Islands. It is aquafarmed (see Scallop aquaculture) in China, South Korea, Japan, and Russia, with over 1,400,000 t worth over US$373 million harvested in 2007.
Its tissues bioaccumulate algal yessotoxins, which are studied extensively.
Bivalvia is a class of marine and freshwater molluscs with laterally compressed bodies enclosed by a shell in two hinged parts. Bivalves include clams, oysters, mussels, scallops, and numerous other families of shells. The majority are filter feeders and have no head or radula. The gills have evolved into ctenidia, specialised organs for feeding and breathing. Most bivalves bury themselves in sediment on the seabed, where they are safe from predation. Others lie on the sea floor or attach themselves to rocks or other hard surfaces. A few bore into wood, clay or stone and live inside these substances. Some bivalves, such as the scallops, can swim.
The shell of a bivalve is composed of calcium carbonate, and consists of two, usually similar, parts called valves. These are joined together along one edge by a flexible ligament that, in conjunction with interlocking "teeth" on each of the valves, forms the hinge. This arrangement allows the shell to be opened and closed without the two halves becoming disarticulated. The shell is typically bilaterally symmetrical, with the hinge lying in the sagittal plane. Adult shell sizes vary from fractions of a millimetre to over a metre in length, but the majority of species do not exceed 10 cm (4 in).