- Birdwing pearlymussel
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Birdwing pearlymussel 
Lemiox rimosus Conservation status Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Mollusca Class: Bivalvia Order: Unionoida Family: Unionidae Genus: Lemiox Species: L. rimosus Binomial name Lemiox rimosus
Rafinesque, 1831Synonyms Conradilla caelata
The birdwing pearlymussel (Lemiox rimosus) is a rare species of freshwater mussel in the family Unionidae, the river mussels. This aquatic bivalve is native to Tennessee and Virginia in the United States. Its range has declined over 90%.[2] It is a federally listed endangered species of the United States.
This mussel remains in three rivers in Tennessee and Virginia, the Duck, Clinch, and Powell Rivers, having been extirpated from many more. It is now extinct in the state of Alabama.[2] The Tennessee Valley Authority spent nearly $83 million between 1969 and 1983 on the Columbia Dam in Columbia, TN, but had to cancel the project due to two endangered muscle species being found in the Duck River, the birdwing pearly mussel and the Cumberland monkeyface pearly mussel.
References
- ^ Bogan, A.E. 1996. Lemiox rimosus. 2011 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 25 September 2011.
- ^ a b Lemiox rimosus. The Nature Conservancy.
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