How do freshwater mussels eat?
Mussels prefer streams, rivers, and lakes with wind-driven currents because the flowing waters help bring in food particles and oxygen and carry away wastes. A mussel can bury itself in the river or lake bottom with only its siphons poking up into the water. Its valves open to extend its incurrent siphon to take in water, oxygen, and microscopic food particles–plankton adn detritus. The food sticks to the lining of its gills, and hair lie cilia slowly sweep the tidbits into its mouth. Its excurrent siphon expels filtered water and waste back into the river. Mussels live on every continent except Antarctica. These animals provide food for fish and wildlife, they clean water by filtering out particles to eat, and they show a river’s health by reacting to pollution and other changes in the water. Pocketbook Freshwater Mussel What’s in a name? People often mistakenly use the term clam when referring to a freshwater mussel. Mussels and clam are both bivalve mollusks, but they differ in imp
