Reintroduction and Assessment of Federally Endangered Species Cumberlandian Combshell in the Powell River, Tennessee, USA

Title: Reintroduction and assessment of federally endangered species Cumberlandian combshell in the Powell River, Tennessee, USA

Format: Oral

Authors:

Hua, Dan. Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation, Virginia Tech; 540-231-7241; huad@vt.edu

Jiao, Yan. Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation, Virginia Tech; 540- 231-5749; yjiao@vt.edu

Neves, Richard J. Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation, Virginia Tech; 540-231-5046; mussel@exchange.vt.edu

Presenter: Dan Hua

Abstract: Propagation of mussels to stocking sizes is a critical step toward effective augmentation and reintroduction of endangered mussel populations. Release and monitoring of propagated mussels are essential protocols to restore populations damaged by anthropogenic impacts and assess the recovery progress. However, the conservation management in augmentation of those impaired population had been obstructed due to the propagation techniques and survey technology. The goal of this study was to culture, release and monitor federally endangered species Cumberlandian combshell (Epioblasma brevidens) to assess its recovery potential. Laboratory- reared mussels of this species were released at Brooks Bridge in the lower Powell River, Tennessee. Monitoring technology using PIT tags was developed and tested over a 15 month period in this study. The results showed that recapture rates exceeded 95%. Released mussels were resampled regularly to determine their growth and survival rates. Released mussels exhibited fast growth and high survival during study duration. Successes in this study have been recognized as models for research and technology transfer to federal and state hatcheries as well as graduate research in conducting population augmentations of endangered species to implement recovery.

Student presenter: No