The conservation of river mussels, from the water to Campus Terra

Pirates who sail on their ship in search of a coveted treasure, ancient stories about sunken ships at the bottom of the ocean… We have all been hearing these tales since we were children, but some of them are not fiction, as many valuable treasures lie under the sea. However, these stories are rarely about rivers, where there are also many hidden gems.

An excellent example of this is the bivalve mollusk ‘Margaritifera margaritifera’. This freshwater treasure is a bioindicator of the quality of the river ecosystem and is currently endangered. Luckily, some helping hands have come to the rescue — specifically those of the research staff of the Conservation of Fish and Mollusks (CoPeMol) group of the USC, coordinated by Paz Ondina, professor and researcher of the Department of Zoology, Genetics and Physical Anthropology on the Lugo campus.

Thanks to their work, 35,000 specimens of this river mussel are protected in a refuge for biodiversity conservation in the breeding station created on the banks of Mera River, in O Veral. In addition to preserving the life of this species —of which 80% of its world population is found in the river basins of Galicia—, this refuge is a pioneering project, as it is currently the only of its kind in the entire Iberian Peninsula.

In this sense, the ‘Margaritifera margaritifera’ conservation project was born with the support of Life Margal Ulla (2010-2016), coordinated by the Ministry of the Environment and in which the USC participated as a beneficiary partner. Following its completion, the University and the Xunta de Galicia have signed an agreement in order to maintain their activity and continue with the recovery of this species, in addition to improving its habitat.

Both parties’ will to increase the population of the species is due to the negative impact that its decrease has on the river ecosystems. This mussel plays a major role as a biofilter by extracting algae, bacteria, and particles of organic matter from the water column.

There is no doubt that this collaboration —materialised in an agreement renewed last year and in force until 2023, with a contribution of 85,000 euros—, makes rowing through the waters towards this conservation goal so much easier.