Protection Is Finalized for Two Midwest Mussels

Endangered Species Act protections have been finalized for two freshwater mussels, according to a U.S. Fish and Wildlife action. The listings of the Neosho mucket mussel as an endangered species and the rabbitsfoot mussel as a threatened species are part of a 2011 court-approved settlement between the USFWS and the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) that resulted in a five-year workplan to speed listings for hundreds of species across the country, according to the CBD's press release. The Neosho mucket, a four-inch round mussel found in Arkansas, Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri, has lost 62 percent of its historic range with only nine of 16 historic populations still in existence. The rabbitsfoot, a six-inch long rectangular mussel found in 13 states, has lost 64 percent of its historic range, and only 11 of the existing 51 populations are viable, the agency noted in its statement. "The Neosho mucket and rabbitsfoot mussels live on the bottom of streams and rivers and have suffered drastic declines because of water pollution and dams. Mussels reproduce by making a lure that looks like a young fish; when larger fish try to prey on the lure, the mussels release their fertilized eggs onto the fish's gills. In dirty water the fish cannot see the mussel's lure, so the mussel can't reproduce," the CBD said. Although the USFWS noted that industrial, agricultural, municipal and mining contaminants have harmful effects on the mussels, especially in early life stages, it is the combination of impoundments, channelization, sedimentation, chemical contaminants, mining, and oil and natural gas development that present ongoing threats that are expected to continue into the future, according to the action...more  

Midwest Mussels: sounds like either a rock band or 2 Chicago mobsters. 

Who knew snails were such wimps. 

They got it bass ackwards again. Instead of listing the snails, they need to breed them fish for better eyesight.