Purple wartyback
Cyclonaias tuberculata (Rafinesque, 1820) |
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Purple wartyback |
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| Cyclonaias tuberculata, INHS 4078. Tippecanoe River, Fulton County, Indiana. Length: 3.5 inches (8.9 cm).
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| Other common names Missouri mapleleaf, purple pimpleback, deerhorn.
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| Key characters Rounded shell with a fairly prominent wing, beak covered
with fine wavy sculpturing, no green stripe on the umbo, purple nacre. Deep and
compressed beak cavity.
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| Similar species Orange-foot pimpleback, pimpleback, mapleleaf,
wartyback.
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| Description Shell round, moderately thick, and compressed to moderately
inflated (large rivers). Anterior end rounded, posterior end somewhat squared
off. Dorsal margin straight, a wing present behind the umbo; ventral margin
curved. Umbos low, even with, or barely rising above the hinge line. Beak
sculpture of numerous wavy ridges covering the surface of the umbo. Shell
surface, except the anterior fourth, covered with tubercles, forming small
ridges on the dorsal wing. Periostracum yellowish brown or greenish brown in
young shells (rarely rayed), becoming dark brown in older shells. Length to 5
inches (12.7 cm). Pseudocardinal teeth large and well developed; two in the left valve, one in the right (usually with a small tooth on either side). Lateral teeth short, striated, and straight or slightly curved; two in the left valve, one in the right. Beak cavity very deep. Nacre usually deep purple, occasionally white with a purple tinge.
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| Habitat Medium to large rivers in gravel or mixed sand and gravel.
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Status Widespread but uncommon in most of the Midwest. Endangered in
Wisconsin. Threatened in Iowa. Species of Special Concern in Michigan. Species
of Special Interest in Ohio.
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