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Biology, Distribution and Numbers of the European Freshwater Pearl Mussel Margaritifera margaritifera

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In the Search of the Lost Pearl

Abstract

Freshwater pearl mussels inhabit riffles of clean small rivers where salmon or trout reproduce. The latter condition is essential because pearl mussel larvae parasize on the gills of these fishes. Pearl mussels start to reproduce at an age of 10–20 years and may live more than 100 years. Their longevity gave rise to dubious claims that pearl mussels do not age at all, and this species was involved in gerontological research aimed at “elimination of ageing” in humans. Pearl mussels inhabit only a minor part of the rivers, in which salmon or trout reproduce. Their distribution covers the north-western part of Europe and the north-eastern part of North America. This species suffered a catastrophic decline over the last decades because of habitat loss, overharvest, extermination of host fish and several other processes. The information on the distribution and status of the surviving populations is urgently needed. Most of the data on pearl mussels were obtained in Western Europe, while in Russia studies have been scarce. For a long time, these molluscs were only mentioned briefly in the context of pearl fishing. Recently, the number of studies devoted to Margaritifera margaritifera in Russia has been increasing, but most of them deal with its biology rather than conservation. The present study aims to fill this gap for a part of the pearl mussel distribution area in Russia: the area around the Russian section of the Baltic Sea.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    “Here we postulate that there is a wonderful case, when biochemical program of accelerated ageing and post-spawning suicide of the another species of salmon, namely, Atlantic salmon Salmo salar can be switched off due to the impact of a symbiotic organism, larvae of the freshwater pearl mussel Margaritifera margaritifera, which occasionally parasitize salmon gills” (Zyuganov 2005a, p. 435). “Pearl mussel concerns about the fact that the salmon host (adult fish or parr juvenile), which received portion of larvae in autumn, would not die, but would live in healthy condition as long as possible, at least up to the next summer, to provide the possibility for the small mollusc to complete its long metamorphosis in the gills of fish, leave the host and start free life on the river bottom” (Zyuganov 2005a, p. 437).

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  1. Department of Applied Ecology, Saint Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia

    Igor Popov

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Popov, I. (2021). Biology, Distribution and Numbers of the European Freshwater Pearl Mussel Margaritifera margaritifera. In: In the Search of the Lost Pearl. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-66255-4_2

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