130:, release their glochidia in mucilaginous packets called conglutinates. The conglutinate has a sticky filament that allows it to adhere to the substrate so it is not washed away. There is also an even more specialized way of dispersal known as a super-conglutinate. The super-conglutinate resembles an aquatic fly larva or a fish egg, complete with a dark area that looks like an eyespot, and it is appetizing to fish. When a fish consumes it, it breaks up, releasing the glochidia. Mussels that produce conglutinates and super-conglutinates are often gill parasites, the glochidia attaching to the fish gills to continue their development into juveniles.
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Before the origin of this larval form was understood, they were described as "parasitic worms" on the fish host, although under normal circumstances, glochidia do not harm fish. Overexposure or heavy infections of glochidia may however greatly decrease the host's ability to respire. This is because
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of a fish host species) for a period before they detach, fall to the substrate and take on the typical form of a juvenile mussel. Since a fish is active and free-swimming, this process helps distribute the mussel species to potential areas of habitat that it could not reach any other way.
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These larvae are tiny and are typically between 100 and 200 micrometers, or approximately a third of the size of a grain of salt. They can be round or have hooks, attaching to the gills, fins and scales of fish (for example to the
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the tissue which is heavily covered in glochidia will eventually convert to scar tissue and lose functionality.
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Watters, G. Thomas (1999). "Morphology of the
Conglutinate of the Kidneyshell Freshwater Mussel,
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Hartfield, Paul; Hartfield, Elizabeth (April 1996). "Observations on the
Conglutinates of
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This article is about bivalve larvae. For hair-like spines of cacti, see
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171:(Conrad, 1834) (Mollusca: Bivalvia: Unionoidea)".
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118:Some mussels in the Unionidae, such as
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41:A drawing of the glochidium of the
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51:). The larva is 0.35 mm long
173:American Midland Naturalist
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208:Ptychobranchus fasciolaris
121:Ptychobranchus fasciolaris
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59:Glochidia of the mussel
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169:Ptychobranchus greeni
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212:Invertebrate Biology
76:) is a microscopic
504:Freshwater bivalves
62:Lampsilis higginsii
82:freshwater mussels
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27:Larvae of bivalves
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16:(Redirected from
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417:Adductor muscles
384:Other hard parts
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94:in the families
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473:Trochophore
468:Pseudofeces
300:Hinge teeth
140:Trochophore
43:swan mussel
493:Categories
463:Glochidium
437:Nephridium
410:Soft parts
295:Hinge line
151:References
127:P. greenii
70:glochidium
422:Ctenidium
355:Sculpture
345:Resilifer
96:Unionidae
74:glochidia
18:Glochidia
458:Abductin
401:Sea silk
350:Resilium
305:Ligament
134:See also
92:mollusks
72:(plural
478:Veliger
275:anatomy
273:Bivalve
232:3226998
193:2426721
145:Veliger
89:bivalve
86:aquatic
32:glochid
499:Larvae
442:Siphon
432:Mantle
391:Byssus
375:Annuli
315:Lunule
290:Callus
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78:larval
451:Other
396:Pearl
365:Valve
360:Umbo
320:Nacre
282:Shell
228:JSTOR
189:JSTOR
108:gills
370:Beak
310:Lira
124:and
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68:The
220:doi
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177:135
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159:^
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