The Giant Floater Mussel
Visual Desciption: The Giant Floater Mussel looks like a clam. It has more than one color and has a thin shell.
Scientific Desciption: The shell of the Giant Floater Mussel varies but is usually large and elliptical or elongate and inflated. Shells are thin when they are young and get thicker as they get older. The front end is broadly rounded and the back pointed. The beak sculpture is 3-5 double looped edges. The shell is smooth and light yellow or yellowish green becoming dark green to brown in older shells. They can grow to 10 inches. . The valves don't have teeth, the hing line is slightly thickened and curved, the beak cavity is broad and shallow, and the nacre on the inside can be silvery white, cream, pink, salmon, or copper-colored.
Scientific Desciption: The shell of the Giant Floater Mussel varies but is usually large and elliptical or elongate and inflated. Shells are thin when they are young and get thicker as they get older. The front end is broadly rounded and the back pointed. The beak sculpture is 3-5 double looped edges. The shell is smooth and light yellow or yellowish green becoming dark green to brown in older shells. They can grow to 10 inches. . The valves don't have teeth, the hing line is slightly thickened and curved, the beak cavity is broad and shallow, and the nacre on the inside can be silvery white, cream, pink, salmon, or copper-colored.
Structure And Function
A mussel is a cold blooded invertebrate. We know this because a mussel does not have a spine and can survive in cold temperatures.
The structures of a mussel are:
The structures of a mussel are:
- Foot: acts as an anchor
- Disc: shell that protects the mussel
- Beak: oldest portion of the shell
- Siphons: transfer liquids from higher to lower
History of Mussel
Important Events in Mussel History
- American Indians harvested mollusks for food, utensils, tools, and jewelry. Mussels became useful to humans
- From the late 1800s-1940s, mussels were collected for making pearl buttons. Mussels were used in large numbers.
- From the 1950s to the present, mussel shells have been used for seeding cultured pearls in Japan. Export of freshwater mussels remains a multi-million dollar industry. Mussels have made people lots of money.
Life Cycle
A mussel's life cycle has 4 milestones
- Host: Glochidia attach to a host fish's gills while they develop
- Juvenile: Mature glochidia leave the host fish
- Adult: Male mussels release sperm and a female filters it and fertilizes an egg
- Glochldim: The fertilized glochidia form in the gills of female mussels and then the mother releases them to find a host fish
Threats to Mussels
Threats that impact the mussel are:
- Locks and Dams: Locks and dams were built by the Army Corps of Engineers to allow commercial navigation. They can block migration of host fish and bury mussel beds under sediment.
- Exotic Species: Exotic mussels, like the zebra mussel attach to native freshwater mussels like the giant floater and compete for food. They pile on top of Giant Floaters and can prevent reproduction.
Habitat and Food
Giant Floater mussels typically live in sandy, silty substrates of ponds and lakes, and sluggish mud bottomed pools of creeks and rivers around the Mississippi. Mussels filter feed on algae and other small particles. A mussel siphons water and food in and lets the extra water out. The water currents move food toward the mussel. Raccoons, beavers, and humans eat mussels.
Ecological Impact and Mobility
Mussels are usually sessile, meaning they stay in one place, but they can move by sticking out their foot and dragging their bodies. The mussels only move if the water level is to low.
Mussels are a food source for fish, birds, and mammals.
Because Giant Floaters filter feed they siphon bacteria, algae and other small particles, improving water quality.
Biologists use the number and variety of mussels to determine how healthy a river is. The more mussels the healthier and cleaner a river is.
Mussels are a food source for fish, birds, and mammals.
Because Giant Floaters filter feed they siphon bacteria, algae and other small particles, improving water quality.
Biologists use the number and variety of mussels to determine how healthy a river is. The more mussels the healthier and cleaner a river is.
Sources
http://www.discovermussels.com
http://www.inhs.illinois.edu/animals_plants/mollusk/musselmanual/page78_9.html
http://www.fws.gov/midwest/mussel/life_history.html
http://www.auburn.edu/academic/science_math/cosam/collections/invertebrates/collections/species/unionoida/pyganodon_grandis/index.htm
http://www.museum.state.il.us/ismdepts/zoology/mussels/mussel_glossary.html
http://www.nps.gov/choh/naturescience/freshwatermussels.htm
http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/wildlife/freshwater-mussels.asp
http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/young_naturalists/mussels/index.html
http://www.fws.gov/midwest/endangered/clams/mussels.html
http://www.inhs.illinois.edu/animals_plants/mollusk/musselmanual/page78_9.html
http://www.fws.gov/midwest/mussel/life_history.html
http://www.auburn.edu/academic/science_math/cosam/collections/invertebrates/collections/species/unionoida/pyganodon_grandis/index.htm
http://www.museum.state.il.us/ismdepts/zoology/mussels/mussel_glossary.html
http://www.nps.gov/choh/naturescience/freshwatermussels.htm
http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/wildlife/freshwater-mussels.asp
http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/young_naturalists/mussels/index.html
http://www.fws.gov/midwest/endangered/clams/mussels.html