Endangered Species in Minnesota
Higgins Eye Pearlymussel
A Higgins eye pearlymussel collected from Pool 6 in the upper Mississippi River.
Photo by USFWS
Listen to a podcast about Higgins eye pearlymussel captive propagation and restoration!
The Higgins eye is an endangered freshwater mussel found in the upper Mississippi River, St. Croix River between Minnesota and Wisconsin, Wisconsin River, and the lower Rock River between Illinois and Iowa. The species' range was about 50% of its historic distribution when it was first listed, but has declined further because zebra mussels have invaded a number of productive mussel beds.
Along with trying to control the spread of zebra mussels, the Twin Cities Field Office works with many partners to propagate and restock river reaches that are zebra mussel-free.
General Information
Fact Sheet: Higgins eye pearlymussell
Range-wide information on listing, natural history, and recovery efforts
Conservation and Recovery Planning
Higgins eye pearlymussel 5 Year Review (May 2006)
Higgins eye pearlymussel recovery plan: first revision - PDF May 2004
Captive Propagation and Restorations
Returning the Higgins Eye Pearlymussel, Nature's Silent Sentinel - Article that summarizes captive propagation and restoration activities
Winter's Landing (Pool 7) Lampsilis higginsii Secondary Habitat Area Monitoring (856 KB) 2010 - - MN DNR Report to the St. Paul District Corps of Engineers
PDF Fact Sheet: Genoa National Fish Hatchery and Native Mussel Restoration
Highlights of the Interagency Mussel Coordination Team
Improving Propagation Techniques for Freshwater Mussels - October 5, 2012
Freshwater mussels are considered key indicators of water quality and contribute to healthy aquatic ecosystems. However, steep population declines due to habitat degradation and pollution, changing agricultural practices, invasive species and impacts of climate change, have presented conservation professionals with challenges to continued conservation of rare and endangered mussels.
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Production Year Totals Show Increase in Stockings from Past Years - December 16, 2011
The 2011 Production Year is finally drawing to a close at Genoa National Fish Hatchery. Young of the year fingerlings have been stocked to their wild wintering waters after a season of intense growth, Genoa’s captive wild broodstocks have been stocked into their overwintering ponds, and indoor rearing raceways have been stocked with extended-growout fingerlings until ice-out on lake waters next spring.
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Gravid Higgins Eye Mussels Collected from St. Croix River fo Ongoing Propagation Project - April 29, 2011
On April 29, 2011, divers from the Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Park Service, and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources collected 20 gravid Higgins eye mussels, which are federally endangered, and several gravid plain pocketbook mussels, which are unlisted, from the St. Croix River at Hudson Narrows, near Hudson, Wisconsin.
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