Presumably, the specific epithet comes from tri- and glochidium, with a meaning of "having three arrow points".
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The fish hosts for the glochidium larvae of this species are: Salaria fluviatilis, Gambusia holbrooki, Acipenser baerii, Acipenser naccarii and Acipenser sturio. The hosts for this species were unknown for a long time: as recently as 1998 they were still not known.Araujo, R. & Ramos, M. A. 1998. Description of the glochidium of Margaritifera auricularia (Spengler, 1793) (Bivalvia, Unionidae).
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Drawing of the glochidium larva of the swan mussel This species is found in rivers and lakes. They have a strong pungent odor and are used by carp fisherman as bait.
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The second stage of the embryonic shell, as the glochidium. Notched. Nicked or indented, as the anterior canal of some gastropods. Nucleus. The first part or beginning, as the apex in a gastropod shell. Nucleated. Having a nucleus. Obconic.
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A drawing of the glochidium of the swan mussel (Anodonta cygnea). The larva is 0.35 mm long Glochidia of the mussel Lampsilis higginsii The glochidium (plural glochidia) is a microscopic larval stage of some freshwater mussels, aquatic bivalve mollusks in the families Unionidae and Margaritiferidae, the river mussels and European freshwater pearl mussels. This larva form has hooks, which enable it to attach itself to fish (for example to the gills of a fish host species) for a period before it detaches and falls to the substrate and takes on the typical form of a juvenile mussel. Since a fish is active and free-swimming, this process helps distribute the mussel species to potential areas of habitat that it could not reach any other way.
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Hyriidae is a taxonomic family of pearly freshwater mussels, aquatic bivalve molluscs in the order Unionida. This family is native to South America, Australia, New Zealand and New Guinea. Like all members of that order, they go through a larval stage that is parasitic on fish (see glochidium). The classification recognized by Banarescu (1995) uses three subfamilies.
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Glochids and spines on a species of Opuntia. The spines are the relatively large, radiating organs; the glochids are the fine prickles in the centres of the bunches. Glochids (Opuntia microdasys monstrose) Glochids or glochidia (singular "glochidium") are hair-like spines or short prickles, generally barbed, found on the areoles of cacti in the sub-family Opuntioideae. Cactus glochids easily detached from the plant and lodge in the skin, causing irritation upon contact.
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Ouachita creekshells are filter feeders and orient themselves with their siphons upstream. They tend to remain buried in the sediment sometimes with their posterior ends uncovered. The females come to the surface when the weather warms up in spring in order to release their larvae. Like other fresh water mussels in the family Unionidae, the Ouachita creekshell has a complex life history involving a larval stage known as a glochidium which attaches itself to the gill, fin or skin of a suitable host fish.
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Sperm is released by the male directly into the water and enters the female via the incurrent siphon. After fertilization, the eggs develop into a larval stage called a glochidium (plural glochidia), which temporarily parasitizes fish, attaching themselves to the fish's fins or gills. Prior to their release, the glochidia grow in the gills of the female mussel where they are constantly flushed with oxygen-rich water. In some species, release occurs when a fish attempts to attack the mussel's minnow or other mantle flaps shaped like prey; an example of aggressive mimicry.
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Glochidia of most species of freshwater mussels are obligate parasites of fishes, but sometimes amphibians. In Westralunio carteri, a mature glochidium is equipped with a pair of interlocking 'larval teeth' on opposing valves; the shell is translucent brown in colour and has a single adductor muscle and shell length, on average, is 306-309 μm. Mature glochidia are released from females during spring on strands of mucus while still encased in their vitelline membranes (a proteinaceous 'egg sac'),. Shortly after release, they hatch from their vitelline membranes and begin characteristically 'winking' in preparation to attach to a passing fish,.
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