Biology and Earth Science Faculty Scholarship
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
9-1995
Publication Title
The Ohio Journal of Science
Publisher
Ohio Academy of Science
Keywords
Purple Catspaw, Epioblasma Obliquata Obliquata, Killbuck Creek, Ohio, Unionidae
Abstract
Discovery of the purple catspaw, Epioblasma obliquata obliquata, in Killbuck Creek, Coshocton County, OH, is reported. This subspecies of unionid mollusc was thought to have been extirpated from the state in the mid to late 1800s and was known only from two nonreproductive populations in Kentucky and Tennessee. The mussel was thought to be on the verge of extinction. Fifteen living and 23 dead specimens of this subspecies were collected in September 1994 from Killbuck Creek. This is the largest known population of this rare subspecies and it is the only known population to currently support breeding individuals. It is threatened by soil erosion resulting from agricultural land-use practices such as clearing of the stream banks for farm fields and cattle grazing and by muskrat predation.
First Page
298
Last Page
299
Volume
95
Issue
4
Repository Citation
Hoggarth, Michael A.; Rice, Daniel L.; and Lee, Diana M., "Discovery of the Federally Endangered Freshwater Mussel, Epioblasma Obliquata Obliquata (Rafinesque, 1820) (Unionidae), in Ohio" (1995). Biology and Earth Science Faculty Scholarship. 6.
https://digitalcommons.otterbein.edu/bio_fac/6
Original Citation
Hoggarth, Michael A., Daniel L. Rice, and Diana M. Lee. 1995. Discovery of the Federally Endangered Freshwater Mussel, Epioblasma obliquata obliquata (Rafinesque, 1820) (Unionidae), in Ohio. Ohio Journal of Science, 95(4):298-299.
Version
Publisher's Version
Publisher's Statement
Copyright 1995 Ohio Academy of Science
Peer Reviewed
1
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Comments
Otterbein Student: Diana M. Lee