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EFFECT OF AERIAL EXPOSURE ON PHYSIOLOGICAL CONDITION AND SURVIVAL OF DIPLODON CHILENSIS (BIVALVIA: HYRIIDAE) DURING TRANSLOCATION

2006; Umeå University; Volume: 49; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.4002/1543-8120-49.1.217

2168-9075

Santiago Peredo, Esperanza Parada, Iván Valdebenito, Matías Peredo-Parada,

Aquatic Invertebrate Ecology and Behavior

Freshwater mussels are an important component of the aquatic biodiversity of Chile, especially in the southern part of the country, and other geographical areas of the northern and southern hemispheres. The most common species in Chile is Diplodon chilensis (Gray, 1828), which is a unique species of Hyriidae with a distribution extending from 34°58’S to 72°48’S in both lentic and lotic environments in numerous hydrographic basins (Parada & Peredo, 2002). It is also present in Argentina between parallels 32°52’ and 45°51’S (Bonetto, 1973). Diplodon chilensis populations have declined or been extirpated in lotic environments due to disturbance or habitat degradation from anthropogenic activity, mainly engineering projects. To date there have been no proposals in Chile for the protection of freshwater mussels. Relocation of unionids is being used as a conservation and management tool (Cope & Waller, 1995). They reviewed 33 projects and reported a mean survival of 50%, suggesting that relocation had been stressful to mussels. Furthermore, most relocations were monitored for < 1 year, and < 20% were monitored for five years. The success of most relocation projects has been predominately judged by mussel survival. Few studies examined measures such as growth, recruitment or condition index. Peredo et al. (2005), studying relocation of D. chilensis in Chile and its long-term evaluation, reported positive results due to recruitment and recovery of mussels 18 years after relocation. However, little is known of the effect of handling and aerial exposure on mussel survival or recommendations on the most appropriate season to conduct relocations. It is hypothesized that relocation of freshwater mussel populations is a suitable management and conservation strategy if the stress of handling is minimized and time of the year fits with MALACOLOGIA, 2006, 49(1): 217−221