Question: how do pearl muscles help the enviroment

Karen answered on 9 Nov 2018:

That’s a great question! Pearl mussels keep the water clean by filtering all the bacteria and fungi (mushrooms) out of it for their food, that’s good for fish! They also help make the river-bed (the pebbles at the bottom of the river) more stable meaning that other insects can live their safely. And it’s possible that other insects eat their poo (sorry!) meaning that the are a source of food for other creatures. So pearl mussels help keep the water clean for animals and humans and they create a better environment in the river 🙂