Endangered
Spectacle case pearly mussel
Cumberlandia monodonta
Spectacle case pearly mussel (common name spectaclecase) is a freshwater mussel endemic to the United States.
Appearance
Spectacle case pearly mussel have oblong shells that grow at least 9.25 inches (23.5 cm). The shell's texture is primarily smooth and will crack along the posterior end when dry. Younger C. Monodonta shells appear a light yellowish-green but darken to a brown or black in older specimens.
Range and habitat
Habitat loss and degradation has caused the decline of C. Monodonta populations and continues to threaten the species today. Many parcels of public land (eg. State parks, state forests, wildlife management areas) encapsulate the historical and current range of C. Monodonta. Within these reserves, TNC has implemented many community-based projects that address aquatic species and their habitat conservation.
Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.
Diet
Adult C. Monodonta will bury themselves under the river's substrate and filter feed, with a diet consisting of algae, bacteria, and dissolved organic material.
In crisis
Spectacle case pearly mussel has experienced a drastic decline in population due to human activity, resulting in its listing as "Endangered" by the Endangered Species Act and the IUCN. The Endangered Species Act classifies C. Monodonta as a highly threatened (endangered) species with a low potential for recovery. As of 2014, the mussel was known to occupy only 20 streams, representing a 55% decline in range.
The majority of remaining C. Monodonta populations are small and geographically isolated. On March 13, 2012, The United States Fish and Wildlife Services officially declared the species as endangered due to its declining populations.
Spectacle case pearly mussel is 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 Spectacle case pearly mussel, Wikidata item Q3015749. 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.
