''Anodonta cataracta'', the eastern floater, is a species of large freshwater mussel, an aquatic

bivalve Bivalvia (), in previous centuries referred to as the Lamellibranchiata and Pelecypoda, is a class of marine and freshwater molluscs that have laterally compressed bodies enclosed by a shell consisting of two hinged parts. As a group, bival ...

mollusc Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is esti ...

in the family Unionidae, the river mussels.

Subspecies

*''Anodonta cataracta'' subsp. ''cataracta'' *''Anodonta cataracta'' subsp. ''marginata''

Description

''Anodonta cataracta '' can reach a size of .

Distribution and habitat

This

mussel Mussel () is the common name used for members of several families of bivalve molluscs, from saltwater and Freshwater bivalve, freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other ...

is present in freshwater habitats along the Atlantic coast of North America. It is found in soft-bottomed ponds, rivers and small lakes.

References

*Richard A. Tankersley
Larval Brooding by the Freshwater Unionid Mussel Anodonta Cataracta
- Wake Forest University. Department of Biology, 1992
The Freshwater Mussels (Unionoida) of the WorldCatalogue of Life
cataracta Bivalves described in 1817 {{Unionidae-stub