Tagging The Mussels

Animal tagging is a simple way of tracking the movement of a creature and a way to easily spot which animals have been accounted for, due to a number ID system. The best way to tag the James River Spinymussel (JRSM) is by supergluing blue plastic numbered tags to their shell. With this tag attached, we record the tag number, identify the species and gender, and measure the length with calipers.  We then determine the location from the upstream and downstream posts using heading and distance to the mussel from each post.  For more, see the Data or Grid System sections.