Pearl mussel breeding project
Freshwater pearl mussel breeding re-introduction project
The Ballinderry River is one of only five rivers in Northern Ireland still home to a population of the globally endangered freshwater pearl mussel Margaritifera margaritifera.
Since 1996 freshwater pearl mussels have been bred in the Ballinderry River Enhancement Association’s Orritor hatchery, run by Ballinderry Fish Hatchery Ltd.
A breeding population of 100 adult mussels are held in a tank from which water is piped to tanks of hatchery reared native Ballinderry brown trout. The mussel larva, known as Glochidia, is washed through these tanks of fish and attach to the gills of the trout, in a process known as ‘encystment’.
The host fish are then transported to a purpose built vivarium, an artificial river system, onsite, where the glochidia fall off the fishes gills and bury down into the gravel bed.
The baby mussels stay buried beneath the gravel for four years, before shuffling up to the surface and beginning to filter feed through their siphons.
piscing elit. Prae aliquam, justo convallis luctus rutrum, erat nulla fermentum diam, at nonummy quam ante ac quam. Maecenas urna purus, fermentum id, molestie in, commodo porttitor, felis. Nam blandit quam ut lacus. Quisque ornare risus quis ligula. Phasellus tristique purus a augue condimentum adipiscing. Aenean sagittis. Etiam leo pede, rhoncus venenatis, tristique in, vulputate at, odio. Donec et ipsum et sapien vehicula nonumm . Suspendisse potenti. Fusce varius urna id quam.
Sed neque mi, varius eget, tincidunt nec, suscipit id, libero. In eget purus. Vestibulum ut nisl. Donec eu mi sed turpis feugiat feugiat. Integer turpis arcu, pellentesque eget, cursus et, fermentum ut, saien. Fusce metus mi, eleifen sollicitudin, molestie id, varius et, nibh. Donec nec libero. H2 level heading Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Praesent aliquam, justo convallis luctus rutrum, erat nulla fermentum diam, at nonummy quam ante ac quam. Maecenas urna purus, fermentum id, molestie in, commodo porttitor, felis. Nam blandit quam ut lacus. Quisque ornare risus quis ligula. Phasellus tristique purus a augue condimentum adipiscing. Aenean sagittis. Etiam leo pede, rhoncus venenatis, tristique in, vulputate at, odio.
