Canaries of the Deep: The Plight of the Freshwater Mussel Narrator: From their homes on the bottom of the river freshwater mussels tell us much about our water. Just as yellow canaries warn coal miners of contaminated air, freshwater mussels warn us of water problems. Russell the Mussel: Hi. I'm Russell the Mussel. I have many relatives thorughout the world but unfortunately, almost half of the nearly 300 species of freshwater mussels in North America are extinct or endangered. Many experts consider us to be the most endangered group of animals in North America. Narrator: Despite a simple outward appearance. Mussels are complex creatures. They have a kidney, stomach, intestine, intake and outtake apertures, gills, a foot, a mantle and a heart. They can discern changes in light and temperature. Adult mussels live semi-buried in the bottoms of creeks, rivers, and lakes. They are filter feeders, they siphon microscopic particles from the water taking them for their food. A four ounce mussel can siphon two quarts of water per hour. Larger mussels can pump gallons of water per hour. Mussels eat by filtering microscopic plants and animals from the water. They spit the undigested food particles called mucus plugs back into the water. Fish eat these tasty plugs. Fish and mussels have a symbiotic relationship. Russell the Mussel: We need each other. We provide food for fish and fish help us carry out our reproductive process. Kurt Welke: It's spring time. The male mussel is up stream from the female mussel. He releases his sperm into the water and through some mysterious way the female can actually identify and recognize that as the genetic contribution of her species. She gets fertilized internally. She produces eggs which are then shifted in her body to the outside edge of her gills which is called the marsupium, or brood pouch. These mature into these little things called glochidia. The female pocketbook will produce a lure. A fish imitation that has the right size and the right silouette, the right colorization to imitate a minnow.And she can wave it. She can make this thing have motion. When that fish tugs at that lure, what it is like, its like a mouse hitting the cheese on a mouse trap. Essentially, the fish springs the trap. The female then expels her young, these glochidia, directly into the face and gills of the host fish. Narrator: If the glochidia are lucky enough to attach to the host fish's gills or fins, they survive for many weeks were they home at the river bottom. A tiny fraction of juvenile mussels survive to this stage. It takes juvenile mussels from 2-9 years to mature and reproduce. Some species of mussels may live sixty or more years if conditions are right. Russell the Mussel: I bet you didn't know that we have been part of our aquatics long before humans began recording history. Scott Gritters: Native Americans used mussels extensively. You can imagine they made knives out of mussel shells because if you think about it, a mussel is a lot lighter to carry around then a knife made out of rock or shale. They also used them for a food resource. We still on the Mississippi River today find piles that Native Americans used for food. We find pearls they used for ornaments and we find those that were maybe used for trading and other things. To Indians, mussels were heavily used. Narrator: Historians say that in 1891, a German button maker, Johann Boppel, cut his foot on a mussel shell while bathing in an Illinois river. Thinking the shells would make beautiful buttons, he established the first freshwater pearl button company in Muscatine, Iowa. Soon the pearl button business was booming. more than 900 button collectors searched the bottom of the Mississippi River for mussels during the hey day of the mussel industry and harvested them as if there was no tomorrow. By the 1940s, the plastic button brought the freshwater pearl button industry to a halt. In the 1960s, the use of mussel shell produced cultured pearls demand. Freshwater mussel shells are cut into squares and made into small beads used as seeds. Oysters sense these seeds as invaders and make pearls to protect themselves. An oyster makes a pearl in several years, depending on the quality of pearl desired. Narrator: Laws have improved to limit mussel harvest, however in many cases, beds were decimated. Over harvesting and poor water quality limited the mussels ability to reproduce fast enough. Environmental factors have hurt freshwater mussels the most. Because mussels are filter feeders, any contaminant in the water is a danger to the mussel. Run off from urban areas, construction sites and agricultural fields contain nutrients, toxins, pesticides and herbicides. All of which can harm mussels and host fish. Fish kills not only destroy all of the fish in the area but also mussels and all other organisms living there. Lock and Dam systems built for navigation, have changed sections of the Upper Mississippi River from free flowing waters to series of lake like pools. Most mussels require flowing water to feed and reproduce. When the current is stopped or slowed, the habitat for most mussel species is forever altered. Locks and Dams also hinder fish migration. If fish cannot easily move between pools on the river, they cannot reach mussels to serve as hosts. Low head or mill dams also limit fish movement on interior rivers. When fish can't migrate, the hitch-hiking glochida can't move to other parts of the river can't move either. Thousands of low head damns exist in the midwest. Many serve no useful purpose. in some locations, removal of these dams restored water movement. Narrator: The latest threat to the mussel is the invasion of exotic species. For example, the zebra mussel, native of eastern Europe, first entered the Great Lakes as a stowaway inside ballast tanks in tanker ships. Referred to as the aquatic killer bee, zebra mussels reproduce very quickly. They attach to almost any surface including intake pipies, boats and even freshwater mussels. Kim Bogenschutz: Once they got to the Mississippi River they attach on to anything the bottom rocks, plants, barges and that's how they moved up and down the river.They were first discovered Mississippi River and in one year they were border to border. They expand very rapidly. One adult female can produce one million eggs. Zebra mussels don't require a fish host like most of our native mussels do. They just release theirs into the water. They have nothing here that controls them and they start piling up on our native mussels. Killimng them attaching to vegetation all the little minute invertebrates zooplankton out of the water that small fish normally eat disrupting the whole food chain that way. Narrator: Additional exotic species invaders are finding theor way to our waters. potential impact to our freshwater mussels are unknown at this time. Russell the Mussel: What is currently being done to help me and other freshwater mussels? Narrator: An effort is underway to help the endangered Higgins Eye recover. Due to the habitat loss, declining water quality, and competetition with zebra mussels, this mussel is in serious danger of becoming extinct. In the fall of 2001, biologists from several states and federal agencies, gathered in Iowa City, Iowa to inoculate fish with glochidia from the Higgins Eye mussel. They hope the host fish will carry the glochidia into the river where they will mature, drop off and survive long enough to begin reproducing. this is the last approach to save this mussel species.It is not yet known if it will be successful. Russell the Mussel: Here are some things you can do to help me and my family freshwater mussels. Narrator: We can work to improve the water quality and the habitat of rivers and lakes where mussels live. Buffer strips between bodies of water and forested land help reduce siltation and prevent harmful toxins from reaching the water. these green belts are beneficial to the country and in the city. Utilization of good soil conservation practices stop excess amounts of sediment from building up on the bottoms of lakes and rivers and smothering mussels. Terraces and contours help stop soil erosion. Stenciling of storm drains is another way of the mussels habitat. When you see the stencil, you remember that what goes down the storm drain such as chemicals ends up in the river. Narrator: We must stop the spread of exotic invaders. Boating is the main spread of zebra mussels from one location to another. Always drain all water from your boat, the motor and trailer before moving to another river or lake. Wash everything with hot water and let it dry for at least four days. Kurt Welke: If everybody understands, if everybody participates, many hands make light work. We've got a great track record. We've done it for bald eagles, we are doing it for other large fauna but we can apply that same will to the small things that are kinda out of sight and out of mind. Funding for this program made possible by the generous support of: United States Fish and Wildlife Service Upper Mississippi River NWFR Sport Fish Restoration Iowa Department of Natural Resources Aquatic Education Program National Audubon Society Upper Mississippi River Campaign 26 Exchange Street Suite 110, St. Paul, Minnesota 55101 Phone 651.290.1695 www.audubon.org Technical Support, Video Footage, and Photographs By: Karen Aulwes - Iowa Department of Natural Resources Dr. Chris Barnhart Department of Biology Southwest Missouri State University Kim Bogenschutz Iowa Department of Natural Resources Cedar Valley Resource Conservation and Development Inc. Kevin Cummings Curator, Illinois Natural History Survey Mike Davis of Natural Resources Conservation and Development, Inc. Barb Giger Iowa Department of Natural Resources Scott Gritters Iowa Department of Natural Resources Marian Havlik Malacological Consultants la Cross, Wisconsin Richard Hubbard Nova Southeastern University Dania Beach, Florida Iowa Department of Natural Resources Iowa Chapter of Iowa State University Iowater Jeff Janvrin Mississippi River Habitat Specialist Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Limestone Bluffs resource Conservation and Development, Inc. Michigan Sea Grant Muscatine Art Center, Iowa Office of the State Archeologist University of Iowa Kelly Poole Dr. Bill Roston Photgrapher Southwest Missouri State University United States Fish and Wildlife Service USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Kurt Welke Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Wisconsin River Alliance The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, and marital or family status. (not all prohibited bases apply to all programs). Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication or program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA's TARGET Center at 202-720-2600 (voice and TDD). To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, Room 326W, Whitten Building, 14th and Independence Ave., SW Washington DC 20250-9410 or call (202)750-5964 (voice or TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. Copyright 2003 Geode Resource Conservation and Development, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED