Arkansas State University Museum of Zoology
Unionoid Bivalve Collection
Mollusk Conservation, Ecology, and Phylogenetics
Since 1990, the Arkansas State University Museum of Zoology-Unionoid Bivalve Collection has served as the primary repository in Arkansas for freshwater bivalve voucher specimens resulting from stream and lake faunal surveys, environmental impact assessments, and phylogenetic studies. The collection has grown to include approximately 1100 lots and 6000+ specimens representing 130+ taxa, and contains paired valves, extracted and alcohol preserved soft tissues, alcohol preserved glochidia, and biopsied frozen tissue samples. Although the bulk of the collection is from Arkansas, specimens from throughout the southeastern and southwestern United States are represented as well as donated collections from Lyon College (Batesville, AR) and the University of New Orleans. An estimated 10,000+ additional specimens await processing into the collection. This bivalve collection, coordinated by Dr. John L. Harris, has been a collaboration among Drs. Alan D. Christian, Jerry L. Farris, and George L. Harp (retired) involving 14 M.S. and 2 Ph.D. graduate students. More than 20 peer-reviewed publications have been generated by this group, and a like number are in preparation.
Much of the freshwater bivalve group's research has been centered on life history, ecology, and conservation status of federally protected threatened and endangered species including host fish determinations, evaluation of habitat preferences, and determinations of population status within Arkansaswaters. Another research priority has been establishing baseline mussel community and population estimates for bivalve assemblages in each Arkansas riverdrainage. Working closely with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, a long-term monitoring protocol is being established that will allow quantitative assessment of population trends of this critically imperiled fauna in each river system.
Bivalve mussel inventories (surveys) conducted throughout Arkansas have supported refinement of species distribution and conservation status within the state, and in conjunction with phylogenetic studies of problematic species groups, have resulted in revised species richness estimates within Arkansas from 65 taxa in the late 1980s to our current understanding of 90+ taxa. Our phylogenetic studies have revealed previously unrecognized cryptic species, and we anticipate published descriptions of these new taxa in the near future. The geographic distribution data, as well as the natural history elements of this growing collection, are being utilized in a much needed revision of the previous monograph on Unionoids of Arkansas authored by R.E. Call (1895). Specimens within the collection also support phylogenetic studies being conducted by colleagues throughout the eastern United States. The freshwater bivalve group's molecular research component continues to actively pursue resolution of phylogenetic relationships among taxa and is being used to address exciting new understanding of population genetics and reproductive ecology processes including concepts involving multiple paternity. The establishment of an Organismal BiologyResearch Centerwould greatly facilitate and streamline the multifaceted nature of the freshwater bivalve research group by providing integrative possibilities in conjunction with the proposed molecular lab.
Much of the freshwater bivalve group's research has been centered on life history, ecology, and conservation status of federally protected threatened and endangered species including host fish determinations, evaluation of habitat preferences, and determinations of population status within Arkansaswaters. Another research priority has been establishing baseline mussel community and population estimates for bivalve assemblages in each Arkansas riverdrainage. Working closely with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, a long-term monitoring protocol is being established that will allow quantitative assessment of population trends of this critically imperiled fauna in each river system.
Bivalve mussel inventories (surveys) conducted throughout Arkansas have supported refinement of species distribution and conservation status within the state, and in conjunction with phylogenetic studies of problematic species groups, have resulted in revised species richness estimates within Arkansas from 65 taxa in the late 1980s to our current understanding of 90+ taxa. Our phylogenetic studies have revealed previously unrecognized cryptic species, and we anticipate published descriptions of these new taxa in the near future. The geographic distribution data, as well as the natural history elements of this growing collection, are being utilized in a much needed revision of the previous monograph on Unionoids of Arkansas authored by R.E. Call (1895). Specimens within the collection also support phylogenetic studies being conducted by colleagues throughout the eastern United States. The freshwater bivalve group's molecular research component continues to actively pursue resolution of phylogenetic relationships among taxa and is being used to address exciting new understanding of population genetics and reproductive ecology processes including concepts involving multiple paternity. The establishment of an Organismal BiologyResearch Centerwould greatly facilitate and streamline the multifaceted nature of the freshwater bivalve research group by providing integrative possibilities in conjunction with the proposed molecular lab.