The birdwing pearlymussel (''Lemiox rimosus'') is a rare
species of
freshwater mussel in the family
Unionidae, the river mussels. This
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 ...
is native to
Tennessee and
Virginia in the United States. Its range has declined over 90%.
[''Lemiox rimosus''.]
The Nature Conservancy. It is a federally listed
endangered species
An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inv ...
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.
[
Failed efforts to transplant the birdwing pearly mussel and the ]Cumberland monkeyface pearly mussel
''Theliderma intermedia'', the Cumberland monkeyface pearly mussel or Cumberland monkeyface, is a species of freshwater mussel in the family Unionidae, the river mussels. This aquatic bivalve mollusk is native to Tennessee and Virginia in the ...
, also endangered, to local streams brought an end to construction on the half-completed and long-contested Columbia Dam on the Duck River in 1983.
References
Natural history of Tennessee
Natural history of Virginia
Lemiox
Bivalves described in 1831
Taxa named by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque
ESA endangered species
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot
{{Unionidae-stub