[Caitlin]

MusselsShowRiverRegaining Health
November 7, 2006
By STEVE GRANT, Courant Staff Writer
http://www.courant.com/features/lifestyle/hc-extinctmussel.artnov07,0,3324459.story?coll=hc-headlines-life

The yellow lampmussel is never going to compete with the bald eagle or the panda for iconic wildlife status.

But mussels are important in their own way - as a measure of a river's health. So state wildlife officials were cheered when a pair of canoeists last summer discovered yellow lampmussels alive and well in the Connecticut River near Hartford.

It is the first time the species has been identified in the state in 45 years. Until this year, the state Department of Environmental Protection considered them extirpated - driven from the state.

Not only was the information itself valuable, but that it came from people using the river was encouraging, an example of how the public can advance knowledge of wildlife species.

"It states the value of citizen science," said Dale May, director of the agency's wildlife division.

"Some of these uncommon species really haven't been looked for much," May said. "If there is some renewed emphasis on going out and finding things, it is going to give us more complete information and help us manage these species in the future."

The agency says it still knows far too little about mussel populations in the state and that it welcomes information from naturalists and others who spend time on the rivers. Mussels are among the plants and animals considered indicator species - they are highly sensitive to water pollution because they are filter feeders.

Six of Connecticut's 12 freshwater mussel species are listed as endangered, threatened or of "special concern," said Julie Victoria, a wildlife biologist with the agency. She says that is "a clear message that this species group is in trouble."

Runoff of chemicals and fertilizers, dams, dredging, poor water quality and competition from non-native, invasive species such as the zebra mussel take their toll on mussels, she said.

For a copy of the agency's "A Field Guide to the Freshwater Mussels of Connecticut" , contact the wildlife division's Franklin office at 860-642-7239, or go to dep.state.ct.us/burnatr/wildlife/pdf/fwmusl.pdf.

Steve Grant can be reached at sgrant@courant.com.