Conservation research project on the Patagonian mussel Anodontites puelchanus

MARTÍN, PABLO; SEEWALD, PABLO

Tentacle (Newsletter of the IUCN/SSC Mollusc Specialist Group)

IUCN-The World Conservation Union

Lugar: Hawaii; Año: 2004 vol. 12 p. 13 - 14

0958-5079

The Patagonian mussel Anodontites puelchanus is the only member of the family Etheriidae and one of the only two freshwater mussels inhabiting Patagonia. The scarce information available suggests that this mussel is endemic of the Negro, Neuquén and Limay rivers, where it inhabits sand-mud bottoms, that it has been rare since its first description and that it presumably requires a fish host to complete its life cycle. Presently there is no conservation concern about this mussel and even its endemic character and its singularity from a biogeographic point of view are not commonly acknowledged. More information about the distribution and abundance of this mussel is urgently needed, since the Negro river basin is the most heavily impacted in Argentinean Patagonia, specially by the construction of many dams and reservoirs, the introduction of exotic species, the use of agrochemicals and the discharge of non-treated municipal wastewater. These antecedents prompted us to initiate studies to asses the conservation status of this Patagonian mussel. Only scarce empty shells of A. puelchanus were found during a preliminary survey in the Negro river and in the lower course of the Neuquén river and most of them were heavily eroded post-mortem and apparently very old. The Asiatic clam Corbicula fluminea was by far the most common and abundant macrobivalve in most sites surveyed. We are planning to perform a more extensive survey on the Negro river to try to found extant populations of A. puelchanus and to delimitate its distribution and habitat requirements. If we succeed in finding viable populations, further studies will concentrate on reproductive habits and the identification of the fish host.