The simple locomotor system of scallops facilitates the study of muscle use during locomotion. We compared five species of scallops with different shell morphologies to see whether shell morphology and muscle use change in parallel or whether muscle use can compensate for morphological constraints. Force recordings during escape responses revealed that the use of tonic and phasic contractions varied markedly among species. The active species, Amusium balloti, Placopecten magellanicus and Pecten fumatus, made more phasic contractions than the more sedentary species, Mimachlamys asperrima and Crassadoma gigantea. Tonic contractions varied considerably among these species, with the two more sedentary species often starting their response to the predator with a tonic contraction and the more active species using shorter tonic contractions between series of phasic contractions. Placopecten magellanicus made extensive use of short tonic contractions. Pecten fumatus mounted an intense series of phasic contractions at the start of its response, perhaps to overcome the constraints of its unfavourable shell morphology. Valve closure by the more sedentary species suggests that their shell morphology protects them against predation, whereas swimming by the more active species relies upon intense phasic contractions together with favourable shell characteristics.