Molecular genetic identification tools for the unionids of French Creek, Pennsylvania

A molecular genetic key to the unionids of French Creek, Pennsylvania, an Allegheny River tributary, is presented here. The key is an integral part of a new approach to identifying unionid glochidia larvae attached to host fishes in the drainage. Working with tissue from adult unionids, we used the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) followed by restriction enzyme digests to find species-specific genetic "fingerprints" for the 25 species in the drainage. We have demonstrated the utility of the key by using it to identify 70 glochidia attached to fishes collected in the French Creek drainage.