Central Michigan University

Thursday, October 15, 2009

CMU biology professor, students comb state's rivers to preserve mussels

CMU freshman Dan Auer snips a small piece of the mussel's tissue, which the team is currently analyzing in the biology lab.

Photo by Peggy Brisbane
CMU University Communications

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Tracy Burton
989-774-1072
tracy.burton@cmich.edu

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Freshwater mussels act like a kidney to our Great Lakes and water systems, constantly filtering them to remove contaminants. But many of the hundreds of mussel species are at risk of becoming endangered, prompting Central Michigan University biology professor Daelyn Woolnough and her students to conduct research to turn their fate around.

"An individual mussel can filter more than 20 liters of water in a day, so if you have a lot of mussels in one area you could clean an entire river," Woolnough explained. "Mussels are vital to our waters."

Over the summer Woolnough took CMU freshman Dan Auer and CMU senior Tonya Neuman to comb the Sydenham River in Ontario, Canada, so they could learn about the different mussel species and why they are important. Next, they scoured the Chippewa River and the Salt River locally -- where they found more than 17 different species.

"This is just really exciting and important work," said Auer of Mount Pleasant. "The fact that I've been able to step in as a freshman and be involved in the depth of this research is such an opportunity. It's been a great learning experience."

Woolnough said it's good news that the mussels are here, but now we have to make sure they are sustained so they can continue to reproduce. This is done by way of the mussels' host fish. When a fish swims by, the mussel latches on and travels with the fish until it's mature enough to drop off and ultimately develop into an adult mussel.

Once the team collects the mussels they record their measurements. They also extract a sample of their tissue to see what information their DNA contains before placing them back in the water.

CMU senior Tonya Neuman tries to identify a mussel she discovered in Isabella County's Salt River, while CMU freshman Dan Auer and CMU biology professor Daelyn Woolnough continue to search the river using special cone viewers.

Photo by Peggy Brisbane
CMU University Communications

"If they're alive, that's better because they're filtering," Woolnough said. "If they're dead and we find them just as shells, that's evidence that they once were here and we need to research what happened so we can try and correct the environment."

The research team is reviewing and testing tissue samples in the lab this fall. They also plan to continue their work in the rivers until the weather gets too cold to sample. This spring, they'll pick up where they left off and sample more Michigan watersheds likely in the Kalamazoo, Grand, Raisin and Belle rivers.

"Eventually we would like to artificially propagate these mussels," Woolnough said. "To do this we'd need to get a more thorough understanding of the mussel communities in our Michigan streams, do laboratory host fish testing so we know what species of fish serve as hosts, and create a facility to enable us to propagate and rear these mussels."

Woolnough admits there is a lot of work ahead, but added they are a motivated team.

"This research is essential for the preservation of our waters, especially here in Michigan," she said. "We need to do everything we can now and for future generations."

To learn more about CMU's biology department, visit http://www.bio.cmich.edu