PARENT SESSION
Oral Session #47: Conservation Ecology: Aquatic.
Presiding: L. Stevens
Tuesday, August 6. 1:00 PM to 4:45 PM. Palo Verde Room, Radisson.
Patterns of genetic diversity among populations of freshwater mussels in the Bonneville Basin, Utah.
Mock, Karen*,1, Brim-Box, Jayne1, Gordon, Mark2, Miller, Mark1, Hoeh, Walter2, 1 Utah State University, Logan, Utah2 Kent State University, Kent, Ohio
ABSTRACT- Freshwater mussels are an integral component of aquatic ecosystems and are indicator species for assessing the health of freshwater systems. The richest mussel fauna (Bivalvia:Unionidae) in the world is found in North America. However, freshwater mussels are considered the most endangered faunal group in the U.S. In the western U.S., there is an alarming lack of basic information on the distribution, abundance, and taxonomic status of freshwater mussels. Nine of the 11 western freshwater mussel species currently recognized are in the genus Anodonta. Historically at least six species of Anodonta occurred in the Great Basin. Of these six species, A. californiensis is tentatively considered to be the only extant species the Basin. Given the high level of endemism of other Great Basin taxa (e.g. fishes), however, it is probable that other described or previously unrecognized mussel species persist in the Basin. We conducted an intensive genetic survey of Anodonta populations in the Bonneville Basin (a sub-basin of the Great Basin) to describe patterns of phylogeny and gene flow. We found these populations to be remarkably homogeneous, although there were interesting differences between Bonneville Basin populations and adjacent populations. These patterns raise intriguing questions about taxonomy, reproduction, gene flow, and host fish requirements in western Anodonta.
KEY WORDS: Anodonta californiensis, freshwater mussels, conservation genetics, Bonneville Basin