PERSONAL
COMMUNICATION
­
PHONE
CALL
TO:
Patricia
Morrison,
U.
S.
Fish
and
Wildlife
Service
FROM:
Sue
Humphries,
Stratus
Consulting
Inc.
DATE:
3/
30/
2006
RE:
Freshwater
mussels
Asked
about
specifics
of
mussel/
host
interactions
and
about
current
and
historical
ranges
and
populations
of
freshwater
mussels,
as
well
as
factors
currently
impacting
mussels.
She
said
that
72
native
mussel
species
are
currently
Federally
listed
as
T&
E
species,
and
that
there
has
never
been
a
successful
recovery
of
a
freshwater
mussel
species
once
it
has
been
listed.

She
also
described
the
life
history
of
mussels
and
their
interactions
with
fish,
including
the
fact
that
fish
hosts
have
not
yet
been
identified
for
many
species
of
mussels,
and
she
directed
me
to
the
OSU
mussel/
host
online
database.
She
described
the
highly
specialized
structures
that
mussels
have
developed
to
increase
the
chances
of
successfully
transferring
their
glochidia
to
the
correct
species
of
fish.
These
lure
structures,
which
contain
many
glochidia,
are
grown
from
and
remain
attached
to
a
female
mussel's
mantle.
The
lures
are
shaped
and
marked
like
a
common
prey
item
for
the
target
fish
species,
such
as
a
particular
species
of
minnow
or
a
particular
insect's
larva,
and
the
mussel
manipulates
the
lure
so
that
the
lure
behaves
like
the
prey
item.
