Northern riffleshell explained

The northern riffleshell (Epioblasma torulosa rangiana) is a subspecies of freshwater mussel, an aquatic bivalve mollusk in the family Unionidae, the river mussels. This mussel is endangered and federally protected.^[1] It was proposed as a species, Epioblasma rangiana, by Williams et al. (2017).^[2]

This mussel was formerly found widely in the Ohio River basin, but now the population is fragmented into only three viable groups.

This river mussel needs gravel river beds and swift-flowing, well-oxygenated water. The reduction in range seems to be principally due to impoundment, the silting up of rivers due to agriculture, mining and tree cutting and competition from zebra mussels.^[3]

Distribution and conservation status

This mussel lives in Ontario, in Canada. It was classified as endangered by COSEWIC. The Canadian Species at Risk Act listed it in the List of Wildlife Species at Risk as being endangered in Canada.^[4]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Northern riffleshell (Epioblasma rangiana). Environmental Conservation Online System. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. 21 April 2023.
2. Williams JD, Bogan AE, Butler RS, Cummings KS, Garner JT, Harris JL, Johnson NA, Watters GT. A Revised List of the Freshwater Mussels (Mollusca: Bivalvia: Unionida) of the United States and Canada. 2017. Freshwater Mollusk Biology and Conservation. 20. 2. 33–58. 10.31931/fmbc.v20i2.2017.33-58. free.
3. Web site: Epioblasma rangiana. NatureServe Network Biodiversity Location Data accessed through NatureServe Explorer. NatureServe. NatureServe. Arlington, Virginia. 20 April 2023. 7 April 2023.
4. COSEWIC. 2005. Canadian Species at Risk. Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. 64 pp., page 13.