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By: Laura Schenkel de Paiva, Eduarda Port Soares and Maria Luisa Joner Maia.
Leila is the common name of Leila Blainvilliana. It is a small clam, it lives buried in the sand, leaving out a small portion of shell to breathe and filter its food.
Leila is a clam. Its main predator is the golden mussel that kills it when Leila buries itself in the sand and leaves out a small portion of shell, to breathe and filter its food. Leila has two shells, it is bivalve and can reach up to 15 cm.
The portion that remains uncovered to ensure its survival, however, is the one that is vulnerable to its predator and it is precisely in this small piece that the golden mussel fixes itself, killing the mollusc by suffocation. After the mussel entered the state, scientists were afraid that the mollusk was already extinct because of the mussel.
In addition to the golden mussel, the mollusk faces other threats to the species, such as the extraction of sand from the bottom of fresh waters, the construction of marinas that lead to the silting of rivers and lakes, in addition to water pollution.
Where is it in RS?
Where is it in RS?
In Rio Grande do Sul, Leila blainvilliana occurs mainly in Lake Guaíba (greater number of records), in the lower course of the Jacuí River and in tributaries of the middle course of the Uruguay River. Despite the wide geographical distribution, the populations of this freshwater shellfish are very small, and by that I mean that the numbers of their population are decreasing. A lot of scientists were really impressed when they saw that Leila Blainvilliana survives the golden mussel (Limnoperna fortunei), introduced in the region via the hull of ships, in 1998. The invader settles on the shell's surface, killing Leila's specimens by suffocation and by the way, he is the cause of her being endangered.
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