Evaluation of Host Fishes for the Brook Floater (Alasmidonta varicosa) from Populations in Massachusetts and Maine, USA

Abstract

The Brook Floater (Alasmidonta varicosa) mussel is globally vulnerable and has disappeared from much of its historical range. Information on Brook Floater host fish use is needed for ecological and conservation purposes, but previous laboratory studies provide conflicting results. We evaluated host fish use by Brook Floater from populations in Massachusetts and Maine, USA. We conducted three experiments using a total of 10 fish species from six families, and we estimated glochidial attachment rate and juvenile metamorphosis rate. Across fish species, attachment ranged from 51.0% to 84.6% and metamorphosis ranged from 4.9% to 80.9%. Fish species and inoculation density (viable glochidia/mL) only weakly predicted attachment, and the number of glochidia that attached to fish did not affect metamorphosis rate. Juvenile metamorphosis was successful on all fish species tested, supporting evidence that Brook Floater is a host generalist. Fish species was an important factor in predicting metamorphosis rates in all experiments. The highest metamorphosis was on Slimy Sculpin (Cottus cognatus) (80.9% ± 2.6 SD) and Brook Trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) (71.6%), but metamorphosis on Brook Trout varied according to source and was lowest on hatchery-raised fish (12.8% ± 0.3 SD). These data contribute to our understanding of the life history of Brook Floater by identifying potential host fishes, and our results can inform propagation efforts for this species in the northeastern USA.