Researchers Study The Early Lives Of Tiny Mussels, Riding Around On Fish

Here’s something Georgians can be proud of: Georgia and its neighboring states are exploding with freshwater biodiversity.

Few places in the world rival the number of fish, crayfish and mussel species that live in the rivers and streams of Georgia, Tennessee and Alabama. Many of those species only live in the rivers here, and nowhere else on the planet.

Mussels — which if people think about them much at all, it’s probably to think about them steamed and served on a plate — are important to the health of rivers. As filter feeders, they suck up algae and bacteria in the water.