Freshwater mussels are important animals in the riverine ecosystem and serve several roles. They actively filter sediment and bacteria, stabilize and aerate substrates, and deposit nutrients and food for other bottom-dwelling species. Unfortunately, many species of mussels – over 60% – are imperiled. The Vermilion of the Wabash River basin in East Central Illinois and […]
It was a chilly day in late February when Kevin Cummings found an unexpected package in his mailbox: an advance copy of his new book, Freshwater Mollusks of the World: A Distribution Atlas. Nearly four years earlier, snail expert Chuck Lydeard had contacted Kevin to see if he would be interested in helping compile the atlas. […]
DANVILLE, ILLINOIS – When Vermilion River water levels fell as the Danville Dam was removed this summer, hundreds of mussels had to find their way back to the river or they would perish on the shore. Lucky for the mollusks, Illinois Natural History Survey (INHS) researchers came to their rescue, moving mussels by hand into […]
OUTSIDE VALLES, MEXICO — When we first arrived at this stream, I knew we were in a special location. The clear, turquoise blue water rivals that of any picture from a Caribbean tour magazine. When I put my snorkeled face in the water, I can actually see mussels in the streambed below, something that doesn’t […]
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — They found it in the Illinois River near the city of Marseilles, Illinois, about 80 miles west of Lake Michigan – a strange entry point for an invasive Asian clam. The scientists who found it have no idea how it got there. But the discovery – along with genetic tests that confirm […]
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Man-made levees and water pollution have made an impact on the fish and other fauna of the Illinois River throughout the 20th century, but researchers at the Prairie Research Institute (PRI), University of Illinois, have taken an even longer view of human-induced changes in freshwater mussels, dating back to pre-Columbian times. Significant […]
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Researchers have transported two endangered freshwater mussel species from Pennsylvania to Illinois in an attempt to re-establish their populations in the western part of the Ohio River Basin. The team of biologists, led by Jeremy Tiemann of the Illinois Natural History Survey (INHS), traveled to the site of a bridge-replacement project on Pennsylvania’s Allegheny River to […]
Researchers participated in a salvage operation for mussels stranded during a drawdown of the Illinois River near Marseilles, Illinois, to retrieve seven barges that had broken free and gotten pinned on the dam a few months prior. During this operation, Kevin Cummings, state malacologist and one of around 25 biologists helping with the census and […]
The freshwater mussels that inhabit the streams of Illinois spend most of their lives buried in the substrate, exposing only the parts they use to take in and expel a steady flow of water, from which they filter their food. This mode of living poses certain challenges for the scientists whose work it is to […]