Popcorn mussels, abyssomussus franconii, are so named because they develop ridges on their shells as they age that broadly resemble popped kernels of maize. It’s been said that, when served with butter and salt and lightly seared, the flavor is the same—but at that point, one is really just tasting butter and salt.

Typically, popcorn mussels have cream-colored shells, but on rare occasions patches of mutant mussels will appear in a lavender color, one which makes them largely invisible at their native depth underwater at high tide but incredibly conspicuous at low tide. The lavender mussels have long been sought after as a delicacy by those who think the unusual color imparts an unusual flavor, or good luck. They were reportedly quite prized by the Chinook, and the lavender shells were traded to the Ide for use in fine beads or as a dye.

Despite attestations of their presence in the historical record, a number in possession of museums, and several beaded sets in the possession of the Ide Nation, no lavender popcorn mussels have been found since 1888, leading to speculation that they were a highly localized mutation that has gone extinct.

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