Tennessee clubshell

Tennessee clubshell
Conservation status
Vulnerable  (IUCN 2.3)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Bivalvia
Order:	Unionoida
Family:	Unionidae
Genus:	Pleurobema
Species:	P. oviforme
Binomial name
Pleurobema oviforme Conrad, 1834
Synonyms[1]
Unio oviformis Conrad, 1834 Unio ravenelianus Lea, 1834 Unio rudis Conrad, 1837 Unio patulus Conrad, 1838 Unio holstonensis Lea, 1840 Unio argenteus Lea, 1841 Unio decisus Küster, 1852 Unio mundus Lea, 1857 Unio lesleyi Lea, 1860 Unio tesserulae Lea, 1862 Unio striatissimus J.G. Anthony, 1865 Unio clinchensis Lea, 1867 Unio planior Lea, 1868 Unio pattinoides Lea, 1871 Unio acuens Lea, 1871 Unio lawi Lea, 1871 Unio bellulus Lea, 1872 Unio brevis Lea, 1872 Unio conasaugaensis Lea, 1872 Unio clavus Call, 1885 Unio accuens Paetel, 1890 Unio swordianus S.H. Wright, 1897 Pleurobema swordiana Simpson, 1900 Pleurobema fassinans Ortmann, 1913

The Tennessee clubshell (Pleurobema oviforme) is a species of freshwater mussel in the family Unionidae, the river mussels. It is native to the eastern United States, where it occurs in Alabama, Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. It also previously occurred in Mississippi.^[2]

This is a mussel of medium size which is variable in appearance. It may be compressed or inflated and any of various shapes from squarish to oval. The shell may be yellowish to greenish or brownish, sometimes with greenish rays. The inner surface of the shell is white to silvery with some iridescence. There are different morphs across populations.^[2]

Several fish species act as hosts for the glochidia of this mussel, including the central stoneroller (Campostoma anomalum), river chub (Nocomis micropogon), common shiner (Luxilus cornutus), whitetail shiner (Cyprinella galactura), Tennessee shiner (Notropis leuciodus), telescope shiner (Notropis telescopus), and fantail darter (Etheostoma flabellare).^[2][3]

This species formerly occupied much of the Tennessee River system, where it was a common species. Its habitat is now fragmented and it now has a disjunct distribution in several river systems in the area, and it is absent from much of its former range. All of the remaining populations are considered threatened. They are impacted by channel alteration, dam flows, siltation, development, commercial clam harvesting, loss of the fish species that host its glochidia, and water pollution from several sources, such as mine tailings.^[2]

One of the species' synonyms, Unio lawi (Lea, 1871) was in honor of the conchologist Annie Law.

References

1. Graf, D.; Cummings, K. "The Freshwater Mussels (Unionoida) of the World (and other less consequential bivalves)". Mussel Project. The University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
2. NatureServe. 2014. NatureServe Explorer. Pleurobema oviforme. Version 7.1. Arlington, Virginia. Accessed August 31, 2014.
3. Weaver, L. R., et al. (1991). Reproductive biology and fish hosts of the Tennessee clubshell Pleurobema oviforme (Mollusca: Unionidae) in Virginia. American Midland Naturalist 126(1) 82-89.

External links

• Bogan, A. E. 1996. Pleurobema oviforme. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.2. Downloaded on 01 September 2014.