Lamellidens marginalis: A super bio-filter of freshwater ecosystems

Abstract

Freshwater mussels are important bio-filters in aquatic ecosystems, capable of improving the water quality by removing suspended particles through their filter-feeding activity. However, no detailed studies are available on the filtration of polluted water by freshwater mussels under controlled laboratory conditions, hence, this study was conducted. The filtration efficiency of the mussel Lamellidens marginalis was evaluated in polluted Subarnarekha River water and aged tap water under controlled laboratory settings. Two sets of aerated aquaria, each containing 20 liters of either polluted river water or aged tap water, were used-one set with mussels and a control set without mussels. Physiochemical parameters including pH, temperature, electrical conductivity, total dissolved solids and turbidity were monitored at 24-hour intervals over a four-day period to assess the impact of mussel filtration on water quality. The turbidity decreased from 191.33 ± 6.9 NTU to 2.4 ± 0.55 NTU in the polluted river water with mussels, and from 1.43 ± 0.11 NTU to 0.76 ± 0.05 NTU in the aged tap water. Similar declines were observed in other parameters. In contrast, no significant changes were observed in the control aquaria without mussels. These findings highlight the exceptional bio-filtration capacity of mussels. Therefore, conserving these species and utilizing them as models for bio-filtration systems is recommended.