Arkansia

Arkansia
Ouachita rock pocketbook
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Bivalvia
Order: Unionoida
Family: Unionidae
Genus: Arkansia
Species: A. wheeleri
Binomial name
Arkansia wheeleri
Ortmann & Walker, 1912

Arkansia is a monotypic genus[1] of freshwater mussels in the family Unionidae, the river mussels. The sole species in the genus is Arkansia wheeleri. Its common names are the Ouachita rock pocketbook and Wheeler's pearly mussel.[2] It is native to Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas in the United States, where there are only four or five small, isolated populations.[3] It is a federally listed endangered species of the United States.[4]

This mussel is not sexually dimorphic; the sexes appear the same. The shell is somewhat rounded or oval, up to 11.2 centimeters long by 6 wide by 8.7 high. The shell is brown or black, lustrous and iridescent. The nacre is part pink and part white or bluish.[1]

Of the four or five remaining populations, only one is viable. It is located in the Kiamichi River in Oklahoma.[3]

The genus was named for the state of Arkansas, where the mussel was first discovered.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c USFWS. Arkansia wheeleri Recovery Plan. June 2004.
  2. ^ Bogan, A.E. 1996. Arkansia wheeleri. 2011 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 27 September 2011.
  3. ^ a b Arkansia wheeleri. The Nature Conservancy.
  4. ^ USFWS. Final rule to list the Ouachita rock-pocketbook (mussel) as an endangered species. Federal Register October 23, 1991.
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