mussel shells in the Kensico

[elsewhere]

Whenever I have gone fishing at the Kensico, I have seen open shells near the shore.  They look like some kind of freshwater mussel.  What kind of clam are they and where are the living ones?  I only see the open shells.  Are the ducks and geese eating them?

[KenH]

There are 51 species of freshwater mussels in New York State.
I "think" the ones we have in the reservoirs, the big ones, are
Alewife Floaters. I see those empty shells in Kensico too. The
living ones are in the mud and I "caught" a live one in Cross River
ages ago and kept it in my aquarium for a while. They are eaten by
just about anything that can get them, raccoons near the shoreline,
various water birds, even some birds of prey. In the old days they were
eaten by the Native Americans, and their shells used as currency for
trade. Here's an intesting note- I once caught a Brown trout that had a
stomach full of very small freshwater mussels. How it managed to gorge
on something like that is beyond me.

Ken

 

[elsewhere]

Hmmm... Interesting to know.  I know other fish are know to eat mollusks but I didn't expect a brown trout!

After you told me about the mussel's name, I googled and found this tidbit:

http://www.lcbp.org/factsht/NativeMussels.pdf

I know the mussels do a lot to keep the reservoir from getting too cloudy or silty.  Glad to have them there.

There are 51 species of freshwater mussels in New York State.
I "think" the ones we have in the reservoirs, the big ones, are
Alewife Floaters. I see those empty shells in Kensico too. The
living ones are in the mud and I "caught" a live one in Cross River
ages ago and kept it in my aquarium for a while. They are eaten by
just about anything that can get them, raccoons near the shoreline,
various water birds, even some birds of prey. In the old days they were
eaten by the Native Americans, and their shells used as currency for
trade. Here's an intesting note- I once caught a Brown trout that had a
stomach full of very small freshwater mussels. How it managed to gorge
on something like that is beyond me.

Ken

 

[robm928]

Also carp will eat them, I know guys that have seen carp puling Zebra muscles off of rocks and eating them. The amazing thing is the carp wer spiting the shells out with no meat left in side.