Western pearlshell

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Western pearlshell
Tagged western pearlshell mussel (49305300613).jpg
Margaritifera falcata
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Bivalvia
Order: Unionida
Family: Margaritiferidae
Genus: Margaritifera
Species:
M. falcata
Binomial name
Margaritifera falcata
Gould, 1850

The western pearlshell (Margaritifera falcata) is a species of freshwater bivalve, a pearl mussel, a bivalve mollusk in the family Margaritiferidae. This species can be found only in the United States and Canada, where it occurs mostly west of the Rocky Mountains.

Distribution

This species of pearl mussel is found in Pacific drainages from California north to British Columbia and southern Alaska. [2] [3] Some scientists consider a number of the coastal and large river populations of this species to be already extirpated, nearly extirpated, or declining rapidly. [3] [4] However, this species is still common throughout parts of the northern Rocky Mountains, [2] although some populations in Montana may be declining.

The species is also found east of the Continental Divide in the headwaters of the Missouri River. Originally these populations were identified as the eastern species Margaritifera margaritifera , but recently scientists have confirmed that the populations are in fact M. falcata, which means that the species somehow was able to cross the divide. [5] The most likely explanation for this distribution is headwater capture, where pre-glacial watersheds were cut and reconfigured by glacial advance or retreat. Westslope cutthroat trout are thought to have crossed the Continental Divide from the West into the headwaters of the present-day Missouri River during the Pleistocene glaciation, more that 20,000 years ago. Since cutthroat trout are an important host species for the glochidia larvae of M. falcata, it is likely that the mussels crossed the divide by hitching a ride on the trout.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Westslope cutthroat trout</span> Subspecies of fish

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Freshwater pearl mussel</span> Species of mollusc

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Margaritiferidae</span> Family of bivalves

Margaritiferidae is a family of medium-sized freshwater mussels, aquatic bivalve molluscs in the order Unionida. It is the most threatened of all unionid families.

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Unionida is a monophyletic order of freshwater mussels, aquatic bivalve molluscs. The order includes most of the larger freshwater mussels, including the freshwater pearl mussels. The most common families are the Unionidae and the Margaritiferidae. All have in common a larval stage that is temporarily parasitic on fish, nacreous shells, high in organic matter, that may crack upon drying out, and siphons too short to permit the animal to live deeply buried in sediment.

<i>Margaritifera</i> Genus of bivalves

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<i>Margaritifera auricularia</i> Species of bivalve

Margaritifera auricularia is a species of European freshwater mussel, an aquatic bivalve mollusk in the family Margaritiferidae, the freshwater pearl mussels. Formerly found throughout western and central Europe, the species is now critically endangered and is one of the rarest invertebrates worldwide, being confined to a few rivers in Spain and France. M. auricularia is commonly known as Spengler's freshwater mussel in honour of Lorenz Spengler, who first described this species.

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Valeriy Valeryevich Zyuganov (Russian: Зюганов Валерий Валерьевич, born 31 July 1955 in Yangiyo‘l city, is a Soviet and Russian biologist, and Doctor of Biological Sciences. He is the pupil and follower of professors V.V. Khlebovich,the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences and Yu. A. Labas.A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of SciencesArchived 2007-12-13 at the Wayback Machine

<i>Cyclonaias pustulosa</i> Species of bivalve

Cyclonaias pustulosa, the pimpleback, is a species of freshwater mussel, an aquatic bivalve mollusk in the family Unionidae, the river mussels. This species is native to North America, where it is widespread and common. It has possibly been extirpated from New York, however, and populations in Pennsylvania are critically imperiled, according to NatureServe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Winged floater</span> Species of bivalve

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The Nore pearl mussel is a critically endangered species of freshwater pearl mussel, an aquatic bivalve mollusc in the family Margaritiferidae.

References

  1. Blevins, E.; Jepsen, S.; Brim Box, J. & Nez, D. (2016). "Margatifiera falcata". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2016: e.T91109639A114128748.
  2. 1 2 Clarke, A. H. 1981. The Freshwater Molluscs of Canada. National Museum of Natural Sciences, National Museums of Canada, Ottawa. 446 pp.
  3. 1 2 Frest, T.J. and E. J. Johannes. 1995. Interior Columbia Basin mollusk species of special concern. Final report to the Interior Columbia Basin Ecosystem Management Project, Walla Walla, WA. Contract #43-0E00-4-9112. 274 pp. plus appendices.
  4. Brim Box, K., J. Howard, D. Wolf, C. O'Brian, D. Nez, and D. Close. 2006. Freshwater mussels (Bivalvia: Unionoida) of the Umatilla and Middle Fork John Day rivers in eastern Oregon. Northwest Science 80:95-107
  5. Gangloff, M. M. and D.L. Gustafson. 2000. The mussels (Bivalvia: Unionida) of Montana. Central Plains Archaeology 8(1):121-130