FREE: HANDMADE LARGE RAINBOW MUSSEL HALF SHELL NECKLACE

The listing, HANDMADE LARGE RAINBOW MUSSEL HALF SHELL NECKLACE has ended.

THE WINNER OF THIS BEAUTY HAS A STORY TO TELL...Mussels are fascinating because of their life histories, carried out on river bottoms. They are among the longest-lived invertebrates, surviving as long as 100 years. Their reproduction is complex and remarkable. Mussels, which cannot see, must make a lure that mimics a juvenile fish, worm, snail or insect to successfully attract specific fish, or in one case a type of salamander, to serve as hosts for their parasitic larvae. Mussel larvae develop into perfectly shaped tiny mussels on their host's gills before dropping off to begin lives on their own.

Mussels are also an indicator species of water quality, and they play an important functional role in rivers by filtering water constantly as they breathe and feed. They improve water quality by filtering out bacteria, algae and pollutants, but in doing so they accumulate contaminants in their bodies.

freshwater mussels are the most endangered group of organisms in the United States. Water pollution has wreaked havoc on these clean-water-loving animals, and dams have deteriorated water quality and separated mussels from the host fish on which their survival depends. Thirty-five species have already been declared extinct, and more are likely gone.

~~~~~THE BLACK BEADS ON THE NECKLACE ARE CORAL~~ ~~~~~~