May 2023 - 37

WYOMING'S NATIVE MUSSELS
More than 700 species of freshwater mussels live throughout North America,
and Wyoming currently hosts seven of them. Here's a brief list of each mussel
and its native watershed. For more information on the state's species, pick
up a copy of " Native Mussels of Wyoming " from the University of Wyoming's
Biodiversity Institute.
Western pearlshell: Lives up to 100
years and can be found in the far
western stretches of Wyoming.
California floater: Lives in large
rivers, lakes and low-gradient streams
of the Bear River watershed in
western Wyoming.
Cylindrical papershell: Find this
mussel in mud and sand in the
southeastern corner of the state.
Dr. Lusha Tronstad, invertebrate zoology program manager at
the University of Wyoming, holds up a western pearlshell mussel.
(Photo courtesy of Lusha Tronstad)
Fatmucket: This mussel uses a lure
to attract fish for reproduction and
lives in the north-central region of
Wyoming.
Plain pocketbook: Can live up to 30
years and was recently reintroduced
into its native drainages in the state's
southeast region.
Giant floater: As its name suggests,
this mussel grows up to 10 inches
long. It lives in the far northeast
corner of the state.
Western heelsplitter: Not only does
this mussel grow up to 8 inches long,
it also can exist in lower water quality
and grow quickly in the high-nutrient
waters of northeast Wyoming.
(Photos courtesy of the Wyoming Natural Diversity Database)
- By Christine Peterson
Poratti, Tronstad's graduate student, is
beginning to follow up on eDNA studies
conducted in the Bear River watershed in
western Wyoming and survey for the western
pearlshell and California floater. Both are
relatively rare in their native drainages and
likely declining. Poratti also wants to know
what host fish each species uses and why the
mussels are struggling.
While many of us can't do much to help
native mussels, we can help researchers like
Tronstad and Siddons identify where native
mussels may live. Anglers, hikers or anyone
else wandering banks of Wyoming streams
can report what shells they find to Game and
Fish offices or through a Wyoming Biodiversity
Institute citizen science project called
Know Your Mussels.
" It's part of our responsibility as a management
agency to keep the biodiversity that was
historically here on the landscape, " Siddons
said. " And part of that is native mussels, so
we're responsible for keeping them around. "
- Christine Peterson is a freelance writer based
in Laramie and a regular contributor to Wyoming
Wildlife.
Wyoming Wildlife | 37

https://www.wyomingbiodiversity.org/

May 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of May 2023

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