🏆 And the award for weirdest reproductive strategy goes to… Freshwater mussels in the genus Lampsilis begin life as parasites. To survive, their larvae must spend weeks attached to the gills of a fish. So how do they get there? Through an evolutionary trick called aggressive mimicry. The adult mussel’s brood pouch—packed with larvae—has evolved to look like a small prey fish. When a hungry predator strikes, the mussel ejects its larvae straight into the fish’s mouth. An @outdoorsmarylandtv crew

Mussel Unit

This is a video clip of a Lampsilis mussel in the Conasauga River in northwest Georgia. She is displaying in order to attract a fish to come and snap at this lure, whereupon the parasitic mussel larvae, Glochidia, will attach to the skin and gills of the unsuspecting host fish! It is an amazing bit of trickery and affords a means of dispersal for this otherwise sedentary animal! After a while, the larval mussels drop off and begin a life of living in the substrate. This one was so noticeable tha

JustWatch on Instagram: "Follow @justwatchog for daily wildlife facts that actually teach you something new and make you see nature differently. Lampreys are one of Earth’s oldest surviving species, dating back more than 360 million years, long before dinosaurs existed. They have no jaws, no scales, and barely any bones, yet they evolved a circular suction mouth lined with over 100 tiny teeth designed to latch onto fish, drill into their skin, and feed on their blood. Scientists call them “livin