How Do Freshwater Mussels Reproduce? Reproduction Methods and Key Technical Points

The freshwater mussel is the collective name for animals of the family Unionidae in the phylum Mollusca, generally living on the bottom of freshwater lakes, ponds, rivers and other waters, so how do freshwater mussels reproduce?

1. Living Habits of Freshwater Mussels

The freshwater mussel is a mollusk, also called hewai, waier, river clam, bird clam, gala, wakua, the Chinese pond mussel (Sinanodonta woodiana), mussel shell and so on. The shell shape varies greatly, the two valves are equal, and the sculpture on the umbo is often concentric or zigzag, but is somewhat reduced.

Mussels generally live in rivers, lakes, ponds, streams and other muddy, sandy or gravelly bottoms. When it is cold in winter and spring, they use their hatchet-shaped foot to dig into the mud, so that part of the mussel body is buried in the mud and sand, with the front ventral margin facing down and the rear dorsal margin facing up; only the rear edge of the shell is exposed for breathing and feeding. When the weather is hot, most of the body is exposed outside the mud. The Chinese pond mussel generally lives in muddy-bottomed, fairly fertile still or slow-flowing water with a pH of 5-9.

2. How Do Freshwater Mussels Reproduce?

Freshwater mussels generally reproduce in summer. The fertilized eggs develop into larvae in the gill cavity and overwinter there, hatching out the following spring. The larvae can be taken out by piercing an opening needle into the outer gill, and then the larvae are allowed to parasitize on a fish for a period of time, after which they can sink to the bottom and grow and develop.

3. What Kinds of Freshwater Mussels Are There?

1. Triangle sail mussel (Hyriopsis cumingii)

It is a mussel with a large, flat shell, roughly shaped like a scalene triangle, with relatively well-developed hinge teeth and obvious growth lines.

2. Chinese pond mussel (Sinanodonta woodiana)

The shell is up to 20 cm long, with two oval valves; the shell surface is smooth, the growth lines on the shell surface are fine but obvious, and there are no hinge teeth.

3. Pearl mussel

The shell is oval and solid and thick, lives in fresh water, can produce pearls, and can be used as medicine; its shell can also be used as nacre for medicinal purposes.