Evaluating the upper thermal limits of glochidia for selected freshwater mussel species (Bivalvia: Unionidae) in central and east Texas, and the implications for their conservation

Understanding the temperature tolerances of organisms is critical because the thermal regimes of freshwater ecosystems are changing globally. Native freshwater mussels are sensitive to increasing water temperatures because of their physiology and unique life history. Detailed knowledge on lethal temperatures for mussels has been limited to less than 5% of the species known to occur in North America, and little is known about the thermal...