Simplification of in vitro culture techniques for freshwater mussels

Populations of freshwater mussels have been declining for several decades due to habitat destruction, pollution and sedimentation. Efforts to propagate rare and endangered species in the laboratory have been hampered by their need for fish as hosts during a brief parasitic phase in early development and more recently, by cumbersome alternative methods. The methods developed here are simple and use common tissue culture products that standardize the procedures allowing production of large numbers of juvenile mussels for replenishment of wild mussel populations or for use in toxicity testing protocols. Anodonta imbecilis, Lampsilis teres and Villosa lienosa have been successfully propagated using these methods.