đź‘€ The little “beads” are the eyes!
Did you know that scallop eyes are very special?
Scallop have up to 200 reflecting eyes that focus light onto two retinas… and each eye works like a tiny telescope with an array of mirrors at the back!!
The biological mirrors are comprised of flat, square guanine crystals that reflect light onto the retina (see the figure from the article below 👇).
Sources

- Doris
- WorMS
- Benjamin A. Palmer et al., The image-forming mirror in the eye of the scallop. Science 358, 1172-1175(2017).DOI:10.1126/science.aam9506
- French news article (France Inter), 2017, https://www.radiofrance.fr/franceinter/podcasts/les-savanturiers/les-200-yeux-de-la-coquille-saint-jacques-6062626Â