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Mussel (Echyridella)

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Taxonomic group

Hyriidae: Echyridella

Diagnostic features

Echyridella (formerly Hyridella) is a genus of native freshwater mussels. The shells of large individuals are thick and darkly coloured, but the shells of juveniles are usually pale. Echyridella burrows into soft sediments; they have no ability to attach to rocks with threads (many marine mussels use such threads). Because of this burrowing, typically only one end of the shell (with siphons) is visible above the sediment.

 

[Echyridella] juvenile. Image: Stephen Moore Image
Echyridella juvenile. Image: Stephen Moore
[Echyridella] adult burrowed into sand. Image: Stephen Moore Image
Echyridella adult burrowed into sand. Image: Stephen Moore

Typical habitats

Echyridella are most common in lakes and soft-bottom, slow-flowing streams and rivers.

Feeding

They are filter feeders, extracting fine particles of organic matter (including plankton) from the water.

Indicator value

  • Hard bottom: 3
  • Soft bottom: 6.7

The tolerance values (ranging from 0 to 10) give an indication of which are the sensitive taxa (values of 8 or more) and which are the tolerant taxa (values of 3 or less). For more information see: Indicator species

Echyridella can be abundant in pristine and degraded waters. We know little about their ability to tolerate specific types of pollution. They have been assigned tolerance values of 3 (hard bottom sites) and 6.7 (soft bottom sites).