Recent results suggest that bivalves can play an important role in restraining the spread of various aquatic infections. However, the ability of mussels to remove free-living stages of macroparasites and reduce their transmission is still understudied, especially for freshwater ecosystems. We investigated the influence of the common freshwater mussel (Anodonta anatina) on the transmission of a trematode (eye fluke, Diplostomum pseudospathaceum), which frequently infects fish in farms and natural habitats. In our experiments, mussels caused a significant decrease (P < 0·001) in the abundance of trematode free-living stages, from 6520 to 1770 cercariae L−1 on average (about 4-fold in 2 h). Individual clearance rates of mussels were 0·6‒3·7 L per hour (mean 1·9). These tests were followed by experimental infections of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) with different doses of D. pseudospathaceum cercariae in the presence or absence of mussels. Exposure of fish to cercariae in the presence of mussels significantly (P < 0·05) reduced the infection intensities in fish (by 30–40%) at all exposure doses. Our results indicate that freshwater bivalves can markedly reduce local cercariae densities and could be useful in mitigation of trematodoses harmful to fish farming.

Shell aragonite δ180 values of unionid freshwater mussels are applied as a proxy for past river discharges in the rivers Rhine and Meuse, using a set of nine shells from selected climatic intervals during the late Holocene. A single Meuse shell derives from the Subboreal and its δ180 values are similar to modern values. The Rhine specimens represent the Subboreal, the Roman Warm Period and the Medieval Warm Period (MWP). These shells also show averages and ranges of aragonite δ180 values similar to modern specimens. This indicates that environmental conditions such as Rhine river dynamics, Alpine meltwater input and drought severity during these intervals were similar to the 20th century. These shells do not record subtle centennial to millennial climatic variation due to their relatively short lifespan and the large inter-annual and intra-seasonal variation in environmental conditions. However, they are very suitable for studying seasonal to decadal scale climate variability. The two shells with the longest lifespan appear to show decadal scale variability in reconstructed water δ180 values during the MWP, possibly forced by the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), which is the dominant mode of variability influencing precipitation regimes over Europe.

Burrowing depth may affect predation rate, feeding ability and reproduction in bivalve clams. We studied the effect of burrowing depth on the abundance of the ergasilid Paraergasilus rylovi in the freshwater bivalve clam Anodonta piscinalis. We transplanted uninfected clams to a lake where they were allowed to choose their preferred burrowing depth, and were exposed naturally to copepodids of the parasite. There was a significant positive correlation between proportionate burrowing depth (PBD) and the abundance of P. rylovi at the end of the 17-day experiment, the deeper-burrowed clams harbouring more P. rylovi. Original PBD (0%, 50%, 100%) did not influence the final PBD or parasite abundance. Clam length affected PBD, smaller clams burrowing deeper, but it did not affect parasite abundance. Infected experimental clams and naturally-burrowed uninfected clams, both originating from the same lake, did not differ in their mean PBD. This indicated that burrowing of the experimental clams affected parasitism rather than the parasites altering burrowing of the clams. In line with the experimental result, we observed a significant positive correlation between PBD and the abundance of P. rylovi also among clams collected from 2 natural A. piscinalis populations.