Freshwater Clams?

[HybridDiver]

Hello
Today on my dive, I never seen them and what not but I found thie huge shell so I was looking at it picked it up to look at it little more closer and It was a clam shell in my old freshwater lake. What is this? Clam or mussles or what is freshwater in a shell?
I dont know this one.
Chris

 

[HybridDiver]

Looked it up, It is a clam. Thats cool, did not know we had clams in our lake.
Chris

 

[fire_diver]

Without a pic it's hard to tell exactly what animal you are talking about. But fresh water bodies do have clams. They can get really big too. I brought a smaller on home a couple weeks ago. It's now living in the fish tank. Seems happy. I never new they moved around so much.

comrade

 

[DandyDon]

Are you in British Columbia...??

Found these in a FW lake there...???

 

[maj2]

I used to find clams in Georgian Bay while growing up, and I still see them near our cottage on Lake Huron.
I assume the species in BC are similar.
Here is an intersting fact sheet from the Great Lakes Science Centre: http://www.glsc.usgs.gov/_files/factsheets/2000-5%20Clams.pdf

 

[Gil57usa]

I have found many fresh water clams in Canandaigua Lake in New York.

 

[DandyDon]

Used to see some tiny bivalves in a seasonal lake here when I was a kid - have no idea how they got there, birds I suppose.

The Pecos and Concho rivers here is known for its bivalves with perfectly round, pink and lavendar pearls, altho I think these are mussels? "Three of Texas' 52 freshwater mussel varieties reside in the region, but only the Cyrtoniaias tampicoensis yields the treasure, and dedicated hunters can make up to $20,000 annually by prying forth their precious cargo."

http://www.lubbockonline.com/news/012697/concho.htm

 

[fire_diver]

I can;t find anything one that species of clams, other than that article. How does one differentiate that one from all the other species?

I 've seen quite a few varieties of clams in our local waters. Grandma and grandpa used to talk about finding the occasional pearl in clams on thier farm here in OK.