I'm expecting to sooner or later end up with mussels in my pond. I'm only 1/2 mi. from a river that has them so I'm also curious as to what to do when they come.
If it were here I would say the 1/2" to 3/4" mussles were just babies. I see them in the river 4" to 6"!
Ranger, maybe you could start a pearl farm?
Japanese prefer fresh water mussels for cultured pearls.
Here's a link to Illinois mussels:
http://www.jaxshells.org/dhess.htm Certain species seem to attach to only one or two known host fishes, whereas others can use numerous hosts. A few such as the Squawfoot and the Pond Paper Mussel do not seem to have an obligate parasitic stage for the glochidia. One species is known to attach to a salamander, the mud puppy. This mussel is Simpsonaias ambigua (Say). Obviously, those mussels which have the twin good fortunes of wider habitat tolerance and larger numbers of common host fishes are at a greater advantage for maintaining large populations.