![Flexing our mussels: The inland mussel species of Appalachia are unmatched around the world, with the Tennessee River basin alone containing more varieties than China and Europe combined. Photo courtesy of Aquatic Wildlife Conservation Center](https://appvoices.org/images/uploads/2012/08/Mussel-Picture1-150x150.jpg)
By Jesse Wood When European settlers first waded through Appalachian streams hundreds of years ago, freshwater mussels practically paved the riverbeds. In the early 1900s, the aquatic creatures were so abundant that thousands of pearl hunters flocked to the forks…