Yellow Lampmussel (Lampsilis cariosa) Status and Distribution in the Middle Susquehanna River Sub-basin of the Susquehanna River

Mussel species distributions and relative abundances were assessed in the Middle Susquehanna River Sub-basin, a major sub-basin of Susquehanna River, the largest river basin in Pennsylvania. The yellow lampmussel (Lampsilis cariosa), listed as a state responsibility species in the State Comprehensive Wildlife Strategy, and several other globally rare species of freshwater mussels occur in the Susquehanna River Basin. Freshwater mussels are one of the most imperiled groups of organisms on the planet (Bogan 1993, Williams et al. 1993). Comprehensive surveys for mussels have not been conducted in the Susquehanna River Basin since the early 1990’s. The Middle Susquehanna River Sub-basin was surveyed during the 2009 field season using cursory time searches (Lellis 2001 and 2002) and time-area constrained searches (Smith et al. 2001). Nine species were found live in our surveys. Lampsilis cariosa was the most common species. Data was combined with that from 2008 surveys in the Juniata River Sub-basin to examine relationships between mussel community metrics and watershed and landscape attributes, as well as water chemistry data. A positive relationship was shown between watershed area and catch per unit effort (CPUE) of Lampsilis cariosa and several other mussel species. However, CPUE for a few other mussel species including Elliptio complanata was not related to watershed size. Mussel community metrics were negatively related to total nitrogen and total phosphorus.

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