(Appalachian elktoe mussels do not survive well in areas of streams where there are clay or silt particles moving in the water current.)
The specifics of their diet has yet to be determined, but it has been assumed that the Appalachian Elktoe survives off the same things as other freshwater mussels: detritus, diatoms, phytoplankton, and zooplankton (Churchill and Lewis, 1921).
[4] The Appalachian elktoe is endemic to mountain river streams in western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee.
Although historical information is unavailable, it is believed that the species once lived in a much larger area in the bigger creeks and streams of the upper Tennessee River systems.
observation, 2002), and in scattered reaches of the main stem of the Tuckasegee River in Jackson and Swain counties, from below the town of Cullowhee downstream to Bryson City (M. Cantrell, Service, pers.
Many factors have been blamed for the endangerment, including siltation from logging, mining, common agricultural practices, and also area construction work.
Runoff into the river systems can seriously affect the species' survival, since the mussels only live in clean, well-oxygenated streams.
The runoff and discharge of pollutants from industrial, agricultural, and municipal sources can cause major damage to the sensitive species.
Human alterations of the species' habitat, such as dredging, damming, and other forms of channel manipulation, also have been considered responsible for declining populations.
Changing aquatic environments without proper sedimentation control does not only negatively affect river mussels, but most other freshwater species as well.
Mussels are somewhat stationary; they are unable to move long distances, which is why they live in very specific, stable habitats that fulfill all of their needs.
Although the landscape was changed due to the high winds and heavy rain of the hurricanes, naturally occurring storms do not threaten the Appalachian elktoe.
When humans tamper with the naturally occurring state of the streams however, it is very difficult for the Appalachian elktoe, as well as other mussel species, to remain healthy.
A study done in 1936 found that even one inch of unnatural sedimentation in the habitat causes high mortality rates in most mussels, including the Appalachian ekltoe (Ellis).
When the clean, well-oxygenated water of the mussels' habitat gets a certain amount of sedimentation, the juveniles are not able to develop properly, because the silt clogs the gills of the host fish that they parasitize themselves on.
By declaring the Appalachian elktoe's habitat critical, it allows for management plans to be fully implemented and for penalties or fines to be created for partaking in activities that may lead to the species' decline.
Three age groups must be surviving in order for a population to keep reproducing: juveniles, adults, and developing larvae (glochidia).
This will be done by monitoring the streams frequently and protecting them from threatening factors of the past, as well as possible threats that might occur in future instances.
The fourth and final step to recovering the Appalachian elktoe is to maintain stability in all four populations, and possibly have them increasing by the next ten or fifteen years.
Like the initial recovery plan, ideally there will be at least one population in the Little Tennessee, French Broad, and Nolichucky River systems.
Finally, like the fourth requirement in the first recovery plan, the last criteria for delisting is that all six populations remain stable and hopefully increasing steadily within a period of ten to fifteen years.
By determining important factors such as previous distribution and exact diet, it will enable the use of the most valuable information on how to save the Appalachian elktoe.
The costs of this recovery are difficult to establish also because it normally takes mussels until age five to start reproducing, therefore a full ten years is needed to study reproduction rates and what affects them.