Fish and Marine Life Illustrations


Colored pencil diagram of the mussel life cycle, with numbered close-ups linking adults, larvae and a host fish.

Mussel Life Cycle, colored pencil

Commissioned by: Minnesota Department of Natural Resources

Also see:

Mussel Illustration by Gina Mussel Anatomy Illustration by Gina

Mussel life cycle shows how many native freshwater mussels grow up: glochidia, tiny larvae, develop on a fish host and later drop to the streambed as juveniles. Gina painted the illustration in 2006 for Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Magnified views sit above the main scene, linked by lines to where each detail belongs, uniting stages of very different sizes in one teaching image.