LABORATORY EXPERIMENTS ON BEHAVIOUR AND MOVEMENT OF A FRESHWATER MUSSEL, LIMNOPERNA FORTUNEI (DUNKER)

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Abstract
Experiments on the movement and behaviour of a freshwater mussel Limnoperna fortunei (Dunker) were conducted m the laboratory. Small mussels of 5–12 mm shell lengths moved over 100 cm during a day within plastic containers, with a maximum distance of 300 cm. However, their movement was concentrated during the first five hours of the experiments. The distance moved decreased with increasing shell length, and mussels larger than 27 mm moved less than 20 cm. Both small (< 15 mm) and large (>15 mm) mussels showed negative photo-taxis and positive geotaxis under the light, but positive geotaxis of small mussels tended to be weak in darkness or under the shade Small mussels had strong thigmotaxis with a preference for settling in the angled crevices between the vertical walls and the flat bottoms of the containers Small mussels tended to aggregate, after movement, and the presence of large mussels facilitated secretion of byssal threads by the small mussels. The possible adaptive significance of these behaviours and movement are discussed in relation to response to predation and dislodgement by waves or water current

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