Here is some more information on freshwater mussels (Unionidae - family).
Numerous freshwater mussels are on the threatened or endangered list. The Mississippi drainage system has a mussel fauna of many species. Many of the mussel species do not tolerate very much pollution and live in relatively clean water. Most freshwater mussels prefer moving water as �ewest� indicates. BUT as I always say it depends.
Several species are well adapted to life in still waters of lakes and ponds as several persons have noticed. In fact some healthy ponds can have very high densites of mussels. The most commonly occurring large mussel in ponds around NW Ohio and probably the midwest is Pyganodon grandis (old name Anadonta grandis) or called by common name as giant floater, floater, stout floater, papershell, hogshell, or slopbucket. Its frequent habitat is ponds, lakes and sluggish mud bottomed pools of creeks and rivers.
Other larger mussel species that can commonly occur in ponds and lakes of the Midwest are:
Common name (scientific name)
Pond papershell � (Utterbackia imbecillis)
Flat floater (Anadonta suborbiculata)
Lilliput (Toxolasma parvus)
Pond mussel (Ligumia subrostrata)
Different regions of North America can have additional species that occur in ponds besides those listed above. Probably the best way to find out which species are likely to live in your local ponds is to go to a pond or lake near you and find out which species or types are living there.
Some of the softer or thinner shelled species of the mussel family Anodontidae are eaten by catfish and sheephead plus young (smaller) ones are eaten by numerous fish feeding on bottom organisms.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Fishing regulations in Ohio forbid collection or possession of freshwater mussel shells � living or dead. Before collecting and transporting any local mussels, I highly suggest you read your state�s fishing or DNR regulations regarding collection or possession of freshwater mussels. A local game warden, �tattle-tale�, or informant may be watching your activities. You could be breaking state and federal law by collecting or transporting live mussels.
FINGERNAIL CLAMS -pea clams, nut clams, pill clams, seed shells (Sphaeriidae-family)
These are small (usu less than 0.5 inch, many �-3/8�) whitish, cream, yellowish or brownish colored bivalves collectively called fingernail clams or Sphaeriidae (sphere �eye-dee). They are regularly eaten by numerous fishes including gizzard shad, buffalo, sucker, redhorse, perch and very probably redears and pumpkin seed sunfish. Fingernail clams are found on all types of bottoms except clay or rock. Some can burrow up to 8� or 9� into the soft substrates during a �resting stage�. In favorable bottoms, fingernail clams can occur up to 10,000 individuals per square yard of bottom although most good populations commonly occur at several hundred individuals per square yard. Many untrained individuals do not recognize these small clams in the sediments because many of the adult fingernail clams are �� less long. The three primary genera are Sphaerium, Pisidium, and Musclium.
Alkaline water and an abundance of calcium carbonate favor shell construction of numerous mussels although fingernail clams are adapted to a wider range of water conditions than the larger thicker shelled mussels.
SNAILS, (Gastropoda)
Snails commonly occur in most ponds, although rarely does more than one species of each genus occur in the same pond. It has been estimated that about 20% of all fish feed to a greater or lesser extent on mollusks. But only a few types of fish such as suckers, yellow perch, sheepshead, pumpkinseed and redear commonly make snails a large potion of their diet. Waterfowl eat lots of snails. Some aquatic invertebrates prey on snails.
Soft waters with low carbonates usually contain fewer snails. Ponds with harder waters usually contain several species and lots more individuals. As always in nature exceptions occur. Shallower water (less than 9ft) is the favored habitat and this is probably due to more food is present there.
Three general shell types of snails occur in ponds - disk, conical, and limpet (obtuse cone) shapes.
Most snails that you will see in ponds will be the disk shaped or conical shaped snails. The thin shelled tadpole physa snail is one of the most common pond snails these make good fish food because the shell is easy for fish to crush. Other common types in your locality could be the gyro, sprite, rams-horn (Planorbidae), the pond snails (Lymnaeidae) and the rock or horn snails (Pleuroceridae).
The rock or horn snails usually have thick cone shaped shells. I would think they are hard for most fish to crush these shells. Yellow perch do not eat the rams-horn, sprite and gyro snail very well due to their thicker shells however perch and larger sunfishes readily eat the physa type of snail.
Generally speaking, the thinner the shell of a snail, the more likely several species of fish will eat it. Some snail eating fish even redear sunfish may avoid eating the thickest shelled types or species of snails.
