Eastern pearlshell mussel

The organism I chose to research is a freshwater mussel, the eastern pearlshell. Its scientific name is Margaritifera margaritifera. I learned they are not fish because they don't have backbones. They are invertebrates and are closely related to saltwater mussels.

You can find them in shallow, inactiveZ water in many different places around the Earth. Its habitat is mostly a stream, but some can live in salt water.

Freshwater mussels eat particles from the water and many things eat them, like humans.

They can live up to 100 years. Freshwater mussels have several thousand babies a year and take good care of their eggs in special ways. The babies hatch and hopefully attach to a nearby fish where they spend some time, before they sink to the bottom where they will spend the rest of their lives.  Some have cool designs and stripes on their shell. They seem like fish, but they're not.  They are an endangered species.