Unionid mussels associated with the construction of the Melvin Price Lock and Dam

Tucker, J. K. 1998. Unionid mussels associated with the construction of the Melvin Price
Lock and Dam on the Upper Mississippi River. Note in Journal of Freshwater Ecology
13(2):249 252. Reprinted by U.S. Geological Survey, Upper Midwest Environmental
Sciences Center, La Crosse, Wisconsin, April 1999. LTRMP 99-R005. 4 pp.
(NTIS #PB99-145682)


ABSTRACT

Eighteen species of native unionid mussels (Unionidae) were recovered from sediments
dredged from behind a coffer dam built during the construction of the Melvin Price Lock
and Dam on the Upper Mississippi River.  For three species (Amblema plicata, Anodonta
grandis, and Obliquaria reflexa), shells in the dredged material were significantly smaller
than those of the same species collected at about the same time from the other sites in Pool
26 of the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers.  The concentration of juvenile specimens in the
dredged material is thought to represent a de novo development associated with silt
accumulation behind the coffer dam.


KEYWORDS

Amblema plicata, Anodonta grandis, dams, Mississippi River, Obliquaria reflexa,
sediment, silt accumulation, Unionidae, unionid mussels, water-controlled structures