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Sac River Basin - Mussels  From: http://courses.smsu.edu/mcb095f/gallery/
Mussels
Mussels are
invertebrates, meaning that they do not have a backbone.
Mussels feed by pulling water into their mouth and filtering food out of the
water. You may have seen dead mussel shells along the side of a river. When mussels are
alive, they bury themselves in the mud or gravel of a river.
A lot of animals like river otters and raccoons feed on mussels. Mussels are very sensitive to polluted water, and
the number of mussels in Missouri rivers has been declining over the years. Pictures of mussels and more information can be
found at Southwest Missouri State University’s Unio Gallery at
http://courses.smsu.edu/mcb095f/gallery/.
Thirty-six species of mussels have been
found living in the Sac River Basin. Additional
species of mussels have been identified by the non-living shells found near the rivers. Live Mussel species found in the Sac River Basin Pink mucket The pink mucket is a mussel species that
is listed as endangered by the state and federal governments. The main cause of decline in the numbers of pink
mucket is habitat alteration due to dam
construction, channelization, and dredging in the Sac River Basin.
Source:
Missouri Department of Conservation’s Endangered Species Guidesheet. Available at http://mdc.mo.gov/nathis/endangered/endanger/pnkmuck/. |
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Elk River | James River | Sac River | Spring River | North Fork Salt River |
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Missouri Watershed Information Network (MoWIN) |
Page last updated August 26, 2008 |
