Appalachian elktoe

Appearance

The Appalachian elktoe has a "thin, kidney-shaped shell, reaching up to about 10 centimeters (4 inches)." Younger mussels normally have a yellowish-brown periostracum (outer shell layer), while more mature mussels generally have a dark brown to greenish-brown periostracum. Features on the outer shell of the mussel, whether juvenile or adult, are often fine or hard to distinguish. In some cases streaks or waves are apparent, that are most easily noticeable on the dorsal region of the outer shell.

Range and habitat

Despite the rarity of the species, and the lack of information about the Appalachian elktoe, their habitat is very easily described because of the similarity to that of other species of freshwater mussels. Appalachian elktoe is found mostly in shallow to medium-sized creeks or rivers. The Appalachian elktoe is a freshwater mussel in the family Unionidae, the river mussels.

Critical habitat is an area that the government has reserved for monitoring and protecting, in an effort to save species currently inhabiting that area.

Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.

Diet

Currently, it is not known what the Appalachian Elktoe feed on, what fish they use as host fish, or how long their life span is. The specifics of their diet has yet to be determined, but it has been assumed that the Appalachian Elktoe survives off the same things as other freshwater mussels: detritus, diatoms, phytoplankton, and zooplankton (Churchill and Lewis, 1921).

In crisis

Human alterations of the species' habitat, such as dredging, damming, and other forms of channel manipulation, also have been considered responsible for declining populations. The species was first noticed to be declining in populations some time after Hurricane Frances and Hurricane Ivan hit the Southeastern region of the United States in the early 1990s. In August 1996, a recovery plan was published in order to save the endangered mussels.

Presently the Appalachian elktoe is considered critically endangered, and it is unknown if they are still in fact actively reproducing. Originally when the recovery plan was made, the species was supposed to be down-listed from endangered to threatened.

Appalachian elktoe is Critically Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.

Sources

Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on Appalachian elktoe, Wikidata item Q307290. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.