Its been over a year and my studies continue. I figured I'd give this discussion a fresh bump. There are so many amazing Texas mussels. I'd love to see anything people might find.
-Thanks, Kevin

Hello all,
I am a student studying American native freshwater pearly mussels. I am looking for people who come across the little (sometime not so little) buggers when outdoors. I would love anyone who finds the muskrat middens on the side of the rivers/lakes (or how ever they come across the mussels) to box up a bunch of paired fellas big and small and send them my way. I am only looking for dead/spent shells, not live ones. I collect and study and write about all the different species. I'm not concered about big or small, the more different ones the better. Anyone who would be able to help me with my studies by just picking up a bunch of the spent shells you might find while fishing would be a HUGE help in my studies. I would certainly compensate you for your effort and of course pay for shipping too. The only requirements would be that you provide matching paired (not single) valves and that they are not totally broken (they don't have to be absolutely perfect with no chips at all, but the cleaner with their natural "skin" the better). I've been trying to make contacts with people across the country that naturally run into mussels while out fishing or hiking that might be able to just pick up shells they come across without it being a big hassle for them. I can't thank enough anyone who would consider assisting me with this project. You can contact me through this site or directly at kczaja@fas.harvard.edu. Thank You!!!!! And good fishing!!!
-Kevin

i found this one near canyon lake.

thats not a mussel thats a heart rock and they're all over the river bottoms... Its cool to collect them though.

Yes that is a rock but a cool looking one! Thanks for the pictures at any rate!

that looks like a jelly donut.

Actually now that I look more closely at it, it looks too perfectly shaped to by just a random rock. I know fossils are very common in many Texas streambeds. It looks a little like a fossil sea urchin.

Well, its been awhile so I figured I'd bump this discussion again. I would still really appreciate any empty freshwater mussel shells people might happen upon.
-Thanks, Kevin!

I'm gonna do a 2 day float on the Colorado River outside of Austin at the end of the month. I'll try and collect what I can and send them your way.

Sounds wonderful!! I can't wait to see what you find!!
-Thanks, Kevin!

My wife found one about the size of a coke can a few months ago down at her families pond.

I found a nice ammonite fossil today!

Well that is definitely a native mussel. If you send a pic, I can try and identify what it is for you!

Since you study mussels you might know. Can you eat them? Even if you could i figure they would taste awful because of the silt in all the lakes.

heart rock??? lol

it is a giant bivalve mollusk....Cucuella Ginanta to be precise. Actually, it is hardened mud that formed inside the shell after the animal died. They are said to be up to 75 million years old.

You can definitely eat them. In fact, I've read that they were a staple for certain native americans. However, I can't give you personal experience. I've heard some people describe them as eating a tough shoe sole if it tasted like mud. On the other hand, my friend cooked some up in beer, butter, and garlic and said it was wonderful. I'm sure the key is to get smaller less tough ones, and make sure you cook them in something that would help any dirt flavor that they might have. I'm guessing ones living in stagnant mud would be much worse tasting then ones living in relatively clean sand in a clean fast moving river. And since they are filter feeders, so its simple math to know that if the water is polluted, the mussels will be too. Let me know how it turns out if you give it a try!
-K

(oh and save the empty shells for me)

I never got to say that I love the ammonite pic! There are some fossil localities in New England, but they are generally few and far between. But I did get to live in Albany, NY for a while where brachiopods and crinoid stems were in the rocks all over. Never found and ammonite though!

if you live in the houston area you can visit george bush park and in the ponds they have like hundreds of freshwater mussels. alive and dead.

Hey Thanks for the heads up! I do hope to visit the area someday!!

One of the keys to getting the dirty taste and sand out of them is to soak them in clean freshwater for a few days before.

Makes sense to me. Someday I've got to try it!

I was piddling around Canyon Lake the other day, near the mouth of the Guad, and tied up to a tall cypress stump. There was a handful of shells in a hollow in the stump, the largest maybe 3/4 inches in diameter. I can't imagine how they got there.

Bigfoot put 'em there.