We don't see or hear them, but every day they quietly go about their work--filtering and cleansing our rivers and streams. And if we don't act soon, they'll disappear from the workforce just when we need them most.

I'm talking about shiny pigtoes, monkeyface, pink heelsplitter, and purple wartyback--freshwater mussels with funny names that belie the seriousness of their labors. They suck water in, filter out bits of algae, bacteria and other tiny particles, and then release it back to the river cleaner than before.

One mussel alone can cleanse as much as a gallon of water per hour. Add up the work of a whole mussel community, and you get a virtual water treatment plant.

According to
[Published in GreenNews - Read the original article]