The Freeloading Lifestyle of Freshwater Mussels
Carrie Schuman, University of Florida
(cross-posted from www.themeanderingscientist.com)
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| Conglutinates of the Ouachita kidneyshell - Chris Barnhart |
I study oyster-y things. In my little myopic scientific snowglobe, I know a few things about shellfish, and I know a few more things about oysters. Then I know the most things about oyster filtration. So there’s still plenty of room for surprise.
This very thing happened this year during a local American Fisheries Society (AFS) meeting where I heard a talk about freshwater mussels. Probably because I always seem to be mucking about in briny water rather than its fresher counterpart, I was rather taken aback learning that many of these species have parasitic larval stages.
