Show me your mussels!

This morning I took a trip down Brantford way to check out a Smooth Brome (Bromus inermis) meadow beneath some power lines (it gets better).  The area is near the Grand River and one of my favourite spots to botanize; a trip to the opposite bank on Sunday did not yield the Harbinger-of-spring I had hoped, but nevertheless a hike in these parts is always worthwhile.

My co-worker Gina is very good with her mussel identification, she's a mussel-head (is that a thing?).  Anyways, while I had been paying close attention to the Smooth Brome meadow, Gina came up with some interesting finds from the mollusc world.

This is a Wavy-rayed Lampmussel (Lampsilis fasciola); they are listed provincially as a Threatened/S1 - Critically Imperiled species and prefer riffle habitats of clear-flowing rivers with sandy or gravelly bottoms.  Given their habitat preference, they are negatively affected by pollution and siltation of rivers.  In their larval stage they are parasitic on Small-mouthed and Large-mouthed Bass, feeding off of them for a period before dropping off to fend for themselves eating algae and bacteria, yum!

Another find, Creeper (Strophitus undulatus) is a common species, also known as Sloughfoot and Strange Floater.

Elktoe (Alasmidonta marginata) is a Species of Conservation Concern (ranked S3 - Vulnerable provincially).  Mussels can be long-lived, many living 20-30 years and some for over a century!  There's a learning curve for identifying them for sure, but I'll have to pay a bit more attention to the shells I find littering gravelly bars.