Freshwater Mussels of Nova Scotia (Curatorial Report #98)

Abstract

Executive Summary

Archival institutions such as Museums of Natural History are repositories for importantrecords of elements of natural history landscapes over a geographic range and over time.

The Mollusca collection of the Nova Scotia Museum is one example of where early (19thcentury) provincial collections have been documented and supplemented by further workover the following 143 years. Contemporary field investigations by the Nova ScotiaMuseum and agencies such as the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources haveallowed for a systematic documentation of the distribution of a selected group, thefreshwater mussels, in large portions of the province.

Although this group comprises only 10 extant and one regionally-extirpated species,these collections represent important species which have been recognized as sensitiveindicators of envirorunental modification as well as larger scale climatic change.

A consolidation of these data (1083 specimen lots), including 164 collections from otherNorth American and European sites allows a clear definition of baseline distributions,primarily in the 20th and beginning of the 21st century. The report summarizes collectiondata in the form of species accounts, supplemented by distribution maps, as well asspecific biological information (in a Nova Scotia context) including the requirement for afish host during early development; a further limitation on their ability to expand ranges.

A selected suite of data fields for each documented collection of freshwater mussels inthe Collection of the Nova Scotia Museum is appended.

Recommendations are made for future work.

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Please note: This resource is presented as originally published. The content of older reports may not reflect the current state of knowledge on the topic documented. Please be aware of this when using this resource.