Freshwater bivalves rearing: a brief overview

Abstract

Freshwater bivalves farming is principally focused on freshwater pearl production in Asia and conservation aquaculture in USA while in Europe is almost completely unknown. High larval mortality is considered the bottleneck in freshwater bivalve larval rearing and methods currently used in marine bivalve larval rearing can be transferred in freshwater mussels. It is likely that probiotics and aquatic microbiology will play a key role also in freshwater bivalves larval rearing. Alternative applications of freshwater mussel rearing should be studied in deep in the future as integrated productions, bioindication projects and utilization of freshwater mussel meal as potential source for fish feeds. The aim of this review is to give a description of potential applications for freshwater bivalve rearing and possible future perspectives.