Text by Paula Dittrick, TMN CPC blogmaster, based upon speech by Bruce Bodson, president/executive director of the Lower Brazos Riverwater. Photos by Bodson
The Brazos River basin, which includes tributaries, historically hosted at least 25 species of mussels, but today there are roughly 15 species, Bruce Bodson told the Dec. 2 meeting of the Texas Master Naturalist Coastal Prairie Chapter.
Bodson, president/executive director of the Lower Brazos Riverwatch, notes that about 12 species are seen on the Lower Brazos. Researchers “are doing a lot of lumping and splitting,” when it comes to categorizing mussels, he said.
More details about taxonomic updates can be found in a separate presentation that two U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employees made to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
That FWS presentation “Introduction to Texas Freshwater Mussels and Taxonomic Updates” was made by Gary Pandolfi, malacologist, and Matt Johnson, Texas Freshwater Mussel Conservation and Recovery coordinator.
In September, the FWS held an online public hearing on its proposal to protect six central Texas mussels under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and designate critical habitat for each.
FWS proposes listing the Texas Fawnsfoot (Truncilla macrodon) as threatened under the ESA. Freshwater mussels across the Southwest have declined because of habitat fragmentation and loss due to water impoundments, reduced water quality and water quantity, FWS said.