Freshwater mussels (Order: Unionoida) are a diverse and imperiled group of organisms that make up an important part of global biodiversity, yet they remain understudied. Life history traits such as maximum age and growth vary interspecifically due to trade-offs in energetic investment toward reproduction and growth. Understanding life history trait variation of mussels can aid conservation efforts by indicating how vulnerable populations may be to certain disturbances. Louisiana’s coastal plains rivers and subtropical climate offer unique habitats in which to characterize variation in mussel life history traits, and many of the watersheds in the state are data deficient. Our goal is to compare age and growth rates for five different species spanning four phylogenetic tribes and two life history strategies from one site in the Bogue Chitto River, Louisiana. We hypothesize that species within the tribes Amblemini, Pleurobemini would be slow growing and older, whereas species within the tribes Quadrulini and Lampsilini would be faster growing and younger. We also hypothesize equilibrium strategists will be exhibit slower growth than periodic species. To date, we have identified and counted annual growth rings (annuli) from radial thin sections cut from 10 individual shells for each of two species (Quadrula nobilis (Quadrulini) and Plectomerus dombeyanus (Amblemini)) collected in the fall of 2025. Individual lengths ranged from 75-100 mm for P. dombeyanus and 51-80 mm Q. nobilis. Age estimates based on counts of annuli ranged from 7-12 years for P. dombeyanus and 10-16 for Q. nobilis. Age estimates for P. dombeyanus are consistent with previous estimates for the species, whereas our age estimates for Q. nobilis represent the first attempt at aging this species. These results improve our understanding of mussel life history trait variation in coastal plains habitats and fill data gaps for species lacking age or growth data in Louisiana. Future work will model growth rates and maximum age for these species in addition to Fusconaia cerina (Pleurobemini), Lampsilis straminea (Lampsilini), and Pustulosa pustulosa (Quadrulini) and include individuals of all species from eight coastal plains watersheds across the gulf coast, including comparisons of current age and growth patterns to museum-housed historical shells.