The Clinch River of southwestern Virginia and northeastern Tennessee is arguably the most important river for freshwater mussel conservation in the United States. This featured collection presents investigations of mussel population status and habitat quality in the Clinch River. Analyses of historic waterand sediment-quality data suggest that water column ammonia and water column and sediment ...

The purpose of this study was to verify the hypothesis of feminisation of the freshwater mussel Elliptio complanata exposed for one complete reproductive cycle (1 year) to a municipal effluent plume. Mussels were harvested from a reference lake and placed in specially-designed cages adapted for long-term exposure to a suspended matter-rich river environment. After exposure, mussels were collect...

To develop a system supporting rapid growth of juvenile freshwater mussels, a recirculating aquaculture system was designed and built at the Laboratory for Conservation Aquaculture and Aquatic Ecology, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. The system included a rectangular trough tank, a sump (biofilter), a pump, a microalgae drip feeder, and an air delivery system. An algal turf...

Management of the nitrogen cycle has been identified as one of fourteen grand challenges for engineering and is an especially important issue for agricultural watersheds of the Upper Midwest. In large river systems, it has become increasingly important to understand the interactions between abiotic and biotic processes that influence nitrogen cycling. Native freshwater mussels are one of the mo...

The Yangtze River drainage in China is among the most species rich rivers for freshwater mussels (order Unionida) on Earth with at least 68 species known. The freshwater mussels of the Yangtze River face a variety of threats with indications that species are declining in abundance and area of occupancy. This study represents the first analyses of the genetic structure and diversity for the comm...

We reviewed the conservation status of rare and endangered species of mussels in southeastern Oklahoma by completing surveys of 10 long-term monitoring sites on the Kiamichi River and five sites in the Little River. We found extant populations of the Ouachita rock pocketbook, Arkansia wheeleri, scaleshell, Leptodea leptodon, winged mapleleaf, Quadrula fragosa, and rabbitsfoot, Quadrula cylindri...

The UNH Center for Freshwater Biology investigated a possible relationship between a cyanobacteria bloom and a large-scale die-off of freshwater mussels in Mystic Lake and Middle Pond (Barnstable, MA). Four mussel species, Elliptio complanata (Eastern Elliptio), Pyganodon cataracta (Eastern Floater), Leptodea ochracea (Tidewater Mucket), and Lampsilis radiata (Eastern Lampmussel) (Nedeau, 2008)...

1. Freshwater mussels of the family Unionidae are one of the most threatened groups worldwide and have suffered severe decline over recent decades. Although the freshwater duck mussel, Anodonta anatina (Linnaeus, 1758), is still widespread, this species has shown evidence of recent declines and is already protected in some

—Pink heelsplitter mussels Potamilus alatus were held at two bottom locations and suspended in pocket nets in a pond at the Freshwater Mollusk Conservation Center, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, for 1 year to evaluate survival in captivity. Survival after 1 year differed significantly; the poorest survival (30.0%) was at the bottom of the deep end (2.5 m), and there was no...