![Sample our Environment & Agriculture journals, sign in here to start your access, latest two full volumes FREE to you for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5934/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Environment-Agriculture.jpg"})
Abstract
Most freshwater mussel (Bivalvia: Unionoida) larvae (glochidia in Margaritiferidae, Hyriidae and Unionidae) are fish parasites. Knowledge of the larval morphology and the mechanism of release in freshwater mussels is useful in species systematics and ecology. Westralunio carteri is the only unionoid from south-western Australia. Little information is available on its biology and its glochidia have never been described. The aim of this study was to describe the glochidia of W. carteri and method of their release. Glochidia within vitelline membranes were embedded in mucus which extruded from exhalent siphons of females during spring/summer; they then hatched from vitelline membranes but remained tethered by a larval thread and began characteristically “winking”. Shells (n=120) were subtriangular, 308 μm long (±0.83 SE), 251 μm high (±0.73 SE) and had a hinge length of 212 μm (±0.78 SE). Larval teeth were singular with interlocking cusps and convex or concave basal protuberances on opposing valves.
Acknowledgements
This study was funded by a Murdoch University PhD Scholarship and a grant from the Holsworth Wildlife Research Endowment. Wildlife collection permits were obtained from the Western Australian Department of Environment and Conservation (SF007049) and the Western Australian Department of Fisheries (1724-2010-06). We thank Rowan and Samuel Lymbery for the development of preliminary dissection methods and Andrew and Fiona Rowland for their assistance in initial location of sampling sites within the Canning River. We thank Keith Walker and Hugh Jones for guidance in the development of this paper. We especially thank the editor and an anonymous reviewer for their comments which significantly improved upon earlier versions of this paper.