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Wolf Creek National Fish Hatchery partnered with 's Center for Mollusk Conservation and Kentucky Wild to offer a hands-on freshwater mussel tagging experience to Kentucky Wild members!
You may be wondering, "How do you tag a mussel?' Well, the answer may be simpler than you think! A quick trip to the local craft store will have you equipped to bedazzle a few hundred mussels in no time! With a little glitter and some superglue, Kentucky Wild members were able to tag some of the rarest animals in the world!
Each mussel receives a small application of superglue, a piece of glitter, and a drop of accelerator to harden the glue. The mussels are then rinsed and ready to be stocked in their habitat of origin! A different color and shape of glitter is applied to the mussels each year to help biologists identify the individual's age and release year when recaptured in the wild.
Multiple species were tagged during the event including the Creeper mussel (Strophitus undulatus), Rabbitsfoot (Theliderma cylindrica), Plain Pocketbook (Lampsilis cardium), and the Purple Cats Paw (Epioblasma Obliquata).
While some species like the creeper are more common, others like the Purple Cats Paw are extremely rare and were once thought to be extinct. These animals play a crucial role in our ecosystems, primarily filtering water bodies to improve water quality, stabilizing river bottoms, and providing habitat for other organisms.
For more photos, visit the hatchery's Facebook page at
