White warty-back pearly mussel
| White warty-back pearly mussel | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Bivalvia |
| Order: | Unionoida |
| Family: | Unionidae |
| Genus: | Plethobasus |
| Species: | P. cicatricosus |
| Binomial name | |
| Plethobasus cicatricosus (Say, 1829) | |
The white warty-back pearly mussel or white wartyback, scientific name Plethobasus cicatricosus, is a species of freshwater mussel in the family Unionidae, the river mussels. Once widely distributed in the Ohio, Cumberland, and Tennessee River systems in the United States, it is now probably limited to the Tennessee River. It is a federally listed endangered species of the United States.
This mussel is yellow-green or yellow-brown in color. The nacre is white and partly iridescent.[1] There is a row of tubercles on one edge of the shell.[2]
The white wartyback lived in the main arteries of big rivers.[1] It was distributed through Alabama, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, and West Virginia. It has now been extirpated from all of these states except for Tennessee and Alabama, where it likely remains in the main flow of the Tennessee River. No live specimens have been collected in over 30 years.[2]
The white wartyback will likely be reintroduced to the French Broad River and the Holston River in Tennessee.[2]
References
- 1 2 USFWS. Plethobasus cicatricosus Recovery Plan. September 1984.
- 1 2 3 Plethobasus cicatricosus. The Nature Conservancy.
Sources
- Cummings, K. & Cordeiro, J. (2011). "Plethobasus cicatricosus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 13 May 2014.