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Journal article
Biofiltration by an imperilled freshwater mussel: implications for water quality in a drying climate
Hydrobiologia
2025
Abstract
Freshwater mussels are keystone species in freshwater streams, providing important ecosystem services, including biofiltration. While most research has focussed on Unionidae mussels in northern hemisphere perennial rivers, far less is known about the biofiltration capacities of Hyriidae mussels, which are prevalent in intermittent rivers in arid and semi-arid regions of the southern hemisphere. This study examined biofiltration of the imperilled Australian hyriid, Westralunio carteri . We estimated biofiltration capacity by measuring reduction in algal concentration across three temperatures (15, 20 and 25 ºC) under laboratory conditions. We then validated these laboratory results with field experiments using natural seston. Westralunio carteri exhibited a mean clearance rate of 177.5 (95% CI 125.4–229.7) mL/g dry tissue/hour in the laboratory and 210.9 (95% CI 171.6–250.2) mL/g dry tissue/hour in the field. Clearance rate increased with temperature, with maximum rates recorded at 25 ºC, and smaller mussels had higher mass-specific clearance rates. Clearance rate estimates aligned with rates in other hyriid mussels. Given its biofiltration capabilities, W. carteri may aid in maintaining water quality in intermittently flowing rivers of south-western Australia, where decreasing streamflow due to climate change is increasing the duration of drying in smaller, warmer and increasingly isolated refuge pools.
Details
- Title
- Biofiltration by an imperilled freshwater mussel: implications for water quality in a drying climate
- Authors/Creators
- Jake R. Daviot - Murdoch UniversityAlan J. Lymbery - Murdoch University, Centre for Sustainable Aquatic EcosystemsStephen J. Beatty - Murdoch University, Centre for Sustainable Aquatic Ecosystems
- Publication Details
- Hydrobiologia
- Publisher
- Springer Nature
- Number of pages
- 15
- Grant note
- Water Corporation
We thank Ashiwin Vadiveloo from the Algae Research and Development Centre at Murdoch University for supplying cultures of algae used in experiments. Thank you to Michael Klunzinger for providing data used to map W. carteri distribution. We thank the staff at the Marine and Freshwater Research Laboratories, Murdoch University, for discussions during the planning aspect of this project. Thanks also to the reviewers who provided detailed feedback to strengthen this manuscript. The authors acknowledge the Noongar people as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which this research took place and pay their respects to Elders past and present.
- Identifiers
- 991005743937107891
- Copyright
- © The Author(s) 2025
- Murdoch Affiliation
- Centre for Sustainable Aquatic Ecosystems
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article
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- Citation topics
- 3 Agriculture, Environment & Ecology
- 3.2 Marine Biology
- 3.2.1002 Bivalve Ecology
- Web Of Science research areas
- Marine & Freshwater Biology
- ESI research areas
- Plant & Animal Science