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IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Epioblasma torulosa ssp. torulosa.
Last
updated: 30th January 2005.
This page is a part of The Extinction Website. © 2000-2009.
| Epioblasma torulosa torulosa | ||
| Kingdom | Animalia |
Copyright © The Extinction Website. All rights reserved. |
| Phylum | Mollusca | |
| Class | Bivalvia | |
| Order | Unionoida |
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| Family | Unionidae |
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| English Name | Tubercled-Blossom Pearly Mussel, Tuberculed Riffle Shell, Tubercled Blossom | |
| Dutch Name | Geknobbelde Parelmossel | |
| Authority | (Rafinesque, 1820) | |
| Characteristics | See image. | |
| Range & Habitat | This freshwater mussel occurred in Canada and the United States (Alabama, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, West Virginia). This mussel was found in large rivers, in shallow sand and gravel shoals with rapid current. | |
| Reproduction | This mussel's reproduction required a stable, undisturbed habitat and a sufficient population of host fish to complete the mussel's larval development. When the male discharged sperm into the current, females downstream siphon in the sperm in order to fertilize their eggs, which they stored in their gill pouches until the larvae hatched. The females then expelled the larvae. Those larvae that managed to attach themselves to the gills of a host fish grew into juveniles with shells of their own. At that point they detached from the host fish and settled into the streambed, ready for a long (possibly up to 50 years) life as an adult mussel. | |
| History & Population | This mussel was once quite abundant throughout all the major rivers of its range. It was particularly numerous in the Ohio River Valley. The last individual collected was a freshly dead one found below Kanawha Falls, West Virginia (USA) in 1969. There have been no sightings since. | |
| Extinction Causes | Damming on river systems, dredging and creation of navigation pools has led to destruction of habitat. Deforestation and the spread of intensive agriculture caused an increased turbidity and siltation of the rivers. | |
| Museum Specimens | The Cleveland Museum of Natural History has this subspecies in its collection. Do you know more museums? Contact this website! | |
| Relatives | Other extinct Epioblasma: Angled Riffleshell (Epioblasma biemarginata), Arc-form Pearly Mussel (Epioblasma arcaeformis), Arcuate Pearly Mussel (Epioblasma flexuosa), Yellow-blossom Pearly Mussel (Epioblasma florentina florentina), Acorn Pearly Mussel (Epioblasma haysiana), Stone's Pearly Mussel (Epioblasma lenior), Lewis Pearly Mussel (Epioblasma lewisii), Fine-rayed Pearly Mussel (Epioblasma personata), Nearby Pearly Mussel (Epioblasma propingua), Sampson's Pearly Mussel (Epioblasma sampsonii), Steward's Pearly Mussel (Epioblasma Stewardsonii), Green-blossom Pearly Mussel (Epioblasma torulosa gubernaculum), Turgid-blossom Pearly Mussel (Epioblasma turgidula). | |
| Links |
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Epioblasma torulosa ssp. torulosa. |
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Last
updated: 30th January 2005. This page is a part of The Extinction Website. © 2000-2009. |
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