Gallery: Absurd Creature of the Week: This Mussel Does an Incredible Impression of a Fish

  • Lampsilis reeveiana St. Francis River MO
    Chris Barnhart
    01

    Lampsilis reeveiana St. Francis River MO

    This is what a mussel in the throes of an identity crisis looks like. Or, more likely, it looks like a fish so that other predatory fish nip at it, releasing the mussel's parasitic larvae. These clamp onto the fish's gills and absorb nutrients.
  • Lampsilis reeveiana Beaver Creek MO
    Chris Barnhart
    02

    Lampsilis reeveiana Beaver Creek MO

    Lampsilis reeveiana
  • Lampsilis cardium
    Chris Barnhart
    03

    Lampsilis cardium

    Lampsilis cardium
  • Lampsilis cardium Pomme de Terre River MO
    Chris Barnhart
    04

    Lampsilis cardium Pomme de Terre River MO

    Lampsilis cardium
  • Lampsilis reeveiana St. Francis River MO
    Chris Barnhart
    05

    Lampsilis reeveiana St. Francis River MO

    Lampsilis reeveiana
  • Lampsilis rafinesqueana Spring River KS
    Chris Barnhart
    06

    Lampsilis rafinesqueana, Spring River KS

    Lampsilis rafinesqueana
  • Lampsilis fasciola
    Chris Barnhart
    07

    Lampsilis fasciola

    Lampsilis fasciola
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