Hidden among the rocks and sand, a creature lurked beneath the lochs of Scotland. It went unnoticed — until curious researchers set out to find it.
Equipped with snorkeling gear and underwater drones, the researchers began surveying lochs across Scotland searching for signs of a small, hard-shelled creature, according to Scotland’s Nature Agency, NatureScot, in an April 4 news release.
Their efforts paid off. At the bottom of two lochs, researchers discovered a “small number” of freshwater pearl mussels, the release said.
Freshwater pearl mussels are a type of mollusk that can live for over 100 years and grow as large as a human hand, experts said. “A mussel may very occasionally bear a pearl,” nature officials said.
The mussels have long been known to inhabit rivers in Scotland, but this was the first time the animal was discovered in lochs, the release said.
“Other mussel species,” project leader Iain Sime said in the release, “are known to live and breed in Scottish lochs, but up until now we’ve had no evidence to suggest that pearl mussels routinely do this too.”
Researchers in Ireland recently found the species in some lakes, prompting Scottish researchers to look closer at their lochs, NatureScot said in a report summary.
Three mussels were found in one loch, not far from a river with a known mussel population, the summary said. One mussel was found in a second loch, about 4 miles from a spot where mussels had previously been found.
The mussels likely “entered the lochs by clinging to the gills of a host fish,” the release said. The mollusks “spend the first year of their lives harmlessly attached to the fish, before falling off to live independently,” researchers said.
Still, “freshwater pearl mussels are rare in Scotland,” experts said in the release. The species has been pushed to the edge of extinction by a history of exploitation, illegal fishing and deteriorating water quality.
“This project was an exciting first step in exploring our lochs,” Sime said in the release. “We’re keen to do further surveys to better understand more about this critically-endangered species.”
Researchers found the mussels in two lochs in Sutherland, one of the northernmost regions of Scotland, and the Trossachs, a region about 60 miles northwest of Edinburgh. The names of the specific lochs are being withheld to protect the animals, NatureScot wrote in comments on Facebook.
The Trossachs are part of a highlands national park that centers around Loch Lomond, nature officials said in a regional assessment. Loch Lomond is “the largest lake in Great Britain by area,” experts said.
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