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Mississippi National River and Recreation AreaKids looking though binoculars to see the wonders of the big Mississippi
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Mississippi National River and Recreation Area
Wabash Pigtoe
(Fusconaia flava) Rafinesque, 1820
A Wabash Pigtoe mussel
K.S. Cummings, Illinois Natural History Survey
Other Common Names:
Pigtoe.
Habitat:
Creeks to large rivers in mud, sand, or gravel.
Length:
Up to 3 inches (7.6 cm).
Outer Shell Color:
Red, yellow or brown, sometimes with rays.
Inner Shell Color:
White or salmon, with some iridescent coloring on the longest end of the shell (measured from the point where the two shell halves meet.)
Shell Thickness:
Moderately thick.
Shell Outline:
The overall outline is round, but the edges are somewhat triangular(imagine a triangle blown up, like a balloon). The outline of the shell edge farthest from the beak (which is the swelling above where the two shells join) narrows to a short, blunt point.
Shell Surface:
Feels like rough cloth. No bumps. The entire shell surface can either bulge out or look somewhat flattened. The face looks slightly pressed-in from the beak to the opposite shell edge (it looks similar to the pressed-in mark your thumbprint would make on wet clay).
Scientific Description:
Shell red, yellow or brown, occasionally with rays. Subtriangular. Postbasal margin: pointed. Disc: sulcate. Ventral margin: concave. Posterior ridge: sharp. Postbasal mantle margin: simple (no specail structures). Marsupium: tetragenous (4-parted). Soft parts usually red,orange or white; especially musculature and gravid marsupium. Sexes alike.
Similar Looking Mussels:
Ebony Shell; Ohio River Pigtoe; Deertoe; Sheepnose; Round Pigtoe.
Host Fish:
Bluegill, Silver Shiner, White Crappie, Black Crappie, Creek Chub
Distribution:
Widespread and common.
Minnesota State Listing:
None.
Federal Listing:
None.
Headwaters of the Mississippi  

Did You Know?
The Mississippi River is approximately three feet deep at its headwaters at Lake Itasca and has an average surface speed of 1.2 miles per hour.

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Last Updated: September 20, 2006 at 14:47 EST