FRAGILE PAPERSHELL
Leptodea fragilis
State listed as Endangered in Vermont
The Fragile Papershell is found in various sized bodies of water, from headwater streams to rivers and lakes. It can also inhabit mud, gravel, and even found in sand. This freshwater mussel can grow up to six inches long and is oblong shaped. When mating, the males release sperm into the water which is taken in by the females through their respiratory current. The eggs are internally fertilized and then pass into the water through the gills where they attach themselves to host fish to relocate. Generally, they breed once a year during the warmer months. The age of a mussel can be determined by looking at annual rings on the shell! Like all mussels, the fragile papershell is rather sedentary, although may move with current or with the help of a host if water levels or conditions change. Mussels are ecological indicators, their presence in a body of water indicate good water quality. They can filter up to fifteen gallons of water a day; a six mile stretch of mussel bed can filter out over 25 tons of particulates per year. Currently there is intense research at Yale University, Stanford University and the NOAA (to name a few) about using mussels to clean fouled waters.
The Fragile Papershell is prayed on by muskrats, racoons, minks, otters, and some birds. Juvenile mussels are also fed upon by lake sturgeon, spotted suckers, redhorse and some other fish. There is a specific mite that feeds on mussel and can destroy about half of their gills. These natural predators are not the root cause of the radical diminishing population of freshwater mussels today. Construction of dams, regulation of river flows, and gravel mining, alter the river bottom habitat. Currently the building of and maintaining dams is a controversial issue. To build a dam one must get a permit, post public notices and it is overseen by the Army Corps of Engineers. Dam removal has in recent years been used as a tool to restore rivers while addressing the on-going problems of aging, and deteriorating, infrastructure. Of the 1,200 known dams in Vermont, many no longer serve a useful purpose and impose legal and financial burdens on their owners. In some cases, removal of these dams makes sense for economic, public safety, ecological or social reasons. The state has published a user’s guide to removed dams in Vermont.
The Endangered Species Project: New England
Exhibition Dates: February 4 - April 14, 2019
Public Lecture and Closing Reception with the Artist: Saturday, April 13
Gallery Hours: M-F 10am - 8pm; Weekends 10am-5pm
Gallery 224 at the Ceramics Program, Office for the Arts at Harvard
224 Western Ave, Allston, Massachusetts 02134
Gallery 224 at the Ceramics Program, Office for the Arts at Harvard is pleased to present an exhibition of work from Montana-based potter Julia Galloway's most recent body of work, The Endangered Species Project: New England. Galloway works from each state's official list of species identified as endangered, threatened or extinct. She has created a series of covered jars, one urn for each species, illustrating the smallest Agassiz Clam Shrimp to the largest Eastern Elk.
Read more about this exhibition here:
ofa.fas.harvard.edu/ceramics/gallery224/endangered-specie...
FRAGILE PAPERSHELL
Leptodea fragilis
State listed as Endangered in Vermont
The Fragile Papershell is found in various sized bodies of water, from headwater streams to rivers and lakes. It can also inhabit mud, gravel, and even found in sand. This freshwater mussel can grow up to six inches long and is oblong shaped. When mating, the males release sperm into the water which is taken in by the females through their respiratory current. The eggs are internally fertilized and then pass into the water through the gills where they attach themselves to host fish to relocate. Generally, they breed once a year during the warmer months. The age of a mussel can be determined by looking at annual rings on the shell! Like all mussels, the fragile papershell is rather sedentary, although may move with current or with the help of a host if water levels or conditions change. Mussels are ecological indicators, their presence in a body of water indicate good water quality. They can filter up to fifteen gallons of water a day; a six mile stretch of mussel bed can filter out over 25 tons of particulates per year. Currently there is intense research at Yale University, Stanford University and the NOAA (to name a few) about using mussels to clean fouled waters.
The Fragile Papershell is prayed on by muskrats, racoons, minks, otters, and some birds. Juvenile mussels are also fed upon by lake sturgeon, spotted suckers, redhorse and some other fish. There is a specific mite that feeds on mussel and can destroy about half of their gills. These natural predators are not the root cause of the radical diminishing population of freshwater mussels today. Construction of dams, regulation of river flows, and gravel mining, alter the river bottom habitat. Currently the building of and maintaining dams is a controversial issue. To build a dam one must get a permit, post public notices and it is overseen by the Army Corps of Engineers. Dam removal has in recent years been used as a tool to restore rivers while addressing the on-going problems of aging, and deteriorating, infrastructure. Of the 1,200 known dams in Vermont, many no longer serve a useful purpose and impose legal and financial burdens on their owners. In some cases, removal of these dams makes sense for economic, public safety, ecological or social reasons. The state has published a user’s guide to removed dams in Vermont.
The Endangered Species Project: New England
Exhibition Dates: February 4 - April 14, 2019
Public Lecture and Closing Reception with the Artist: Saturday, April 13
Gallery Hours: M-F 10am - 8pm; Weekends 10am-5pm
Gallery 224 at the Ceramics Program, Office for the Arts at Harvard
224 Western Ave, Allston, Massachusetts 02134
Gallery 224 at the Ceramics Program, Office for the Arts at Harvard is pleased to present an exhibition of work from Montana-based potter Julia Galloway's most recent body of work, The Endangered Species Project: New England. Galloway works from each state's official list of species identified as endangered, threatened or extinct. She has created a series of covered jars, one urn for each species, illustrating the smallest Agassiz Clam Shrimp to the largest Eastern Elk.
Read more about this exhibition here:
ofa.fas.harvard.edu/ceramics/gallery224/endangered-specie...