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Handling effects on survival and growth of plain pocketbook Lampsilis cardium (Rafinesque, 1820) freshwater mussels

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Abstract

Handling freshwater mussels may have negative impacts on their survival, growth, or reproduction, and this may affect our interpretation of how mussels respond to research and conservation actions. The goal of this study was to investigate how repeated dislodgement and emersion during handling affects survival and growth of plain pocketbook Lampsilis cardium. Sixty mussels were exposed to one of the four handling rates: (1) control (no handling), (2) handled every other week, (3) handled once per week, or (4) handled twice per week, during an 85-day laboratory experiment in 2017. Absolute daily growth rates were compared among control and treatment group mussels. Growth rates were positive for > 98% of mussels and no mortality occurred. A likelihood ratio test indicated that growth rates did not differ among treatment groups (χ2 (3) = 1.32, P = 0.72). The best growth rate model was an intercept-only model which predicted that an average mussel grew 0.0088 mm/day (95% confidence interval 0.0070–0.0106). Our results suggest that L. cardium survival and growth is not compromised by short-term, repeated handling as often as twice per week, but consideration of handling procedures and mussel characteristics is necessary to fully understand how handling may affect other mussels.

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All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article [and its supplementary information files].

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Acknowledgements

We thank the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for the state wildlife grant (U-10-R-1) and the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission and Iowa Department of Natural Resources for funding and the opportunity to work with an imperiled species. This project is also based on research that was partially supported by the Nebraska Agricultural Experiment Station with funding from the Hatch Multistate Research capacity funding program (NC-1189) from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture. We are grateful to Bryan Sweet and staff of the North Platte Fish Hatchery for providing the mussels and for their continued support. We wish to thank Jamilynn Poletto for providing the laboratory, various supplies, and advice on experimental design. Thank you to Christopher Chizinski, Mark Kaemingk, and Drew Tyre for guidance with data analyses. Thank you to Manuel Lopes-Lima and two anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments on this manuscript.

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  1. University of Nebraska – Lincoln, 3310 Holdrege Street, Lincoln, NE, 68583, USA

    Lindsay M. Ohlman & Mark A. Pegg

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  1. Lindsay M. Ohlman
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Correspondence to Lindsay M. Ohlman.

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Ohlman, L.M., Pegg, M.A. Handling effects on survival and growth of plain pocketbook Lampsilis cardium (Rafinesque, 1820) freshwater mussels. Hydrobiologia 847, 457–467 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-019-04106-y

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