Freshwater mussels are a critical part of healthy river ecology, but several species are considered endangered at local, state, and national levels.
The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium's Watters Aquatic Conservation Center tirelessly works on methods to address population concerns. The facility is the first in Ohio, and among only a few in the nation, to propagate freshwater mussels in vitro (in a petri dish).
Freshwater mussels require a host fish in their life cycle to fully transform into juvenile mussels. With in vitro propagation, this state can be bypassed by supplying the mussel larva with all the protein and nutrients at the appropriate temperature and pH that it would be getting from attaching itself to the gills of a host fish.
One benefit of in vitro propagation is that thousands of mussels could be produced and reared as opposed to a couple hundred that would grow via traditional methods by attaching to a host fish.
Read more about the Watters Aquatic Conservation Center and the collaborations in Ohio that make it successful.
