Tickets IMAX Donate

Riverwatch

Collecting Enormous Darters to Help Endangered Freshwater Mussels

Recently, a team of scientists from the Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute donned wetsuits and snorkels to collect Tangerine Darters from the Tellico River near Tellico Plains, Tennessee.

After spending a winter at the Conservation Institute’s freshwater science center, these enormous fish (for a darter, at least) will be spawned next spring. Their offspring will be raised under our experts’ care before being shipped to a Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency facility near Nashville. There they will play a crucial role in the propagation of an endangered species of freshwater mussel.

src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/N-NR-uiqbBQ?rel=0&modestbranding=1&quality=hd720" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen title="embedded YouTube video"