<<Yeah, that irks me too. I don't know a lot of times if what I'm seeing is
<<native or introduced, or what species it is. A good comprehensive national
or
<<state guide which concentrated solely on these creatures (Michigan for me
of
<<course) would be helpful.
Texas has an excellent guide to freshwater mussels (Howells, R. G., R. W.
Neck and H. D. Murray. 1996. Freshwater mussels of Texas. University of
Texas Press. Austin. 224pp.) which is available at
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/news/press/wildlife.htm for $29.95. (Ignore the
freshwater fishes of Texas book on same site...not worth the money in my
opinion)
Pennak, R. W. 1989. Freshwater Invertebrates of the United States. John
Wiley & Sons, Inc. New York. 628pp. provides basic coverage (34 pages) of
freshwater mussels including a useful key to the genera. (I would highly
recommend this book to anyone who has been interested in any of the recent
aquatic invertebrate threads on this list)
For the upper midwest area, you might try contacting Dr. Ed Stern at the
University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. He was conducting some rather
intensive mussel surveys in the early 80's. I don't know where/when he
might have published his work but I am sure that he could be considered a
regional expert and could provide you with information on the availability
of any local guides.
Also, there are a number of websites devoted to freshwater mussels although
I don't have the addresses at hand.
For those that enjoy interesting common names, freshwater mussels are where
it's at! Where else can you find names like Wabash pigtoe, Louisiana
fatmucket and Texas Heelsplitter?
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