Fisheries and Ecological Services staff at the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks are taking action to bolster some of the state’s most at-risk aquatic species.
Freshwater mussels – essentially clams that have adapted to live in freshwater streams, rivers, and lakes – reach their greatest diversity in North America. Nearly 300 species of mussels occur in the U.S., 40 of which reside in Kansas. Of those in Kansas, nearly 60 percent have some level of conservation concern and most have disappeared from part of their historical range.
