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Epioblasma obliquata, commonly called the catspaw, is a species of freshwater mussel. It is native to eastern North America, where it is classified as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. There are two subspecies, each with distinct morphology. Due to species rarity, the behavior of this organism is unknown beyond general freshwater mussel behavior.
Freshwater mussels also face the major threats of water temperature, water velocity, and turbidity changes. [1] These factors add great stress on the survival of these mussels in their respective environments. They change the ecophysiology of the organisms and change the way they are able to interact with their resources and surroundings. [1]
One of the subspecies, the white catspaw, exhibits morphological differences between the sexes. The males have shells that are more oval-like and the grooves are deeper than those of the female. The shell of the females appear to resemble more of a rectangle than the oval. The outer layer of the shell is a tannish color while the iridescent interior is a pearly white. Overall, the mussel is around 2 inches. [2]
The purple catspaw has a yellow/green/brownish shell surface with a deep purple iridescent interior. This subspecies demonstrates different sex morphologies as well with the male shell narrower than the wider shell of the female. Males can be up to 70mm. [3]
Due to the rarity of both subspecies, reproduction timing is unknown. Maturation, developmental morphology, and lifespan have not been observed. These muscles are filter feeders through and consuming what food available floating through the water. Basic organismal research needs to be done on the catspaw mussel if there is any hope of reintroduction to its historical ranges. [4]
- ^ a b Luck, Kirsten; Ackerman, Josef D. (2022-05-15). "Threats to freshwater mussels: The interactions of water temperature, velocity and total suspended solids on ecophysiology and growth". Science of The Total Environment. 821: 153101. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.153101. ISSN 0048-9697.
- ^ "Epioblasma perobliqua (White catspaw) - Michigan Natural Features Inventory". mnfi.anr.msu.edu. Retrieved 2023-03-16.
- ^ "Purple Cat's Paw Pearly Mussel (Epioblasma obliquata obliquata) | U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service". FWS.gov. Retrieved 2023-03-16.
- ^ "Epioblasma obliquata perobliqua (white catspaw)". CABI Compendium. CABI Compendium. 2022-01-07. doi: 10.1079/cabicompendium.122620. ISSN 2958-3969.
| This is the sandbox page where you will draft your initial Wikipedia contribution.
If you're starting a new article, you can develop it here until it's ready to go live. If you're working on improvements to an existing article, copy only one section at a time of the article to this sandbox to work on, and be sure to use an edit summary linking to the article you copied from. Do not copy over the entire article. You can find additional instructions here. Remember to save your work regularly using the "Publish page" button. (It just means 'save'; it will still be in the sandbox.) You can add bold formatting to your additions to differentiate them from existing content. |
Epioblasma obliquata, commonly called the catspaw, is a species of freshwater mussel. It is native to eastern North America, where it is classified as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. There are two subspecies, each with distinct morphology. Due to species rarity, the behavior of this organism is unknown beyond general freshwater mussel behavior.
Freshwater mussels also face the major threats of water temperature, water velocity, and turbidity changes. [1] These factors add great stress on the survival of these mussels in their respective environments. They change the ecophysiology of the organisms and change the way they are able to interact with their resources and surroundings. [1]
One of the subspecies, the white catspaw, exhibits morphological differences between the sexes. The males have shells that are more oval-like and the grooves are deeper than those of the female. The shell of the females appear to resemble more of a rectangle than the oval. The outer layer of the shell is a tannish color while the iridescent interior is a pearly white. Overall, the mussel is around 2 inches. [2]
The purple catspaw has a yellow/green/brownish shell surface with a deep purple iridescent interior. This subspecies demonstrates different sex morphologies as well with the male shell narrower than the wider shell of the female. Males can be up to 70mm. [3]
Due to the rarity of both subspecies, reproduction timing is unknown. Maturation, developmental morphology, and lifespan have not been observed. These muscles are filter feeders through and consuming what food available floating through the water. Basic organismal research needs to be done on the catspaw mussel if there is any hope of reintroduction to its historical ranges. [4]
- ^ a b Luck, Kirsten; Ackerman, Josef D. (2022-05-15). "Threats to freshwater mussels: The interactions of water temperature, velocity and total suspended solids on ecophysiology and growth". Science of The Total Environment. 821: 153101. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.153101. ISSN 0048-9697.
- ^ "Epioblasma perobliqua (White catspaw) - Michigan Natural Features Inventory". mnfi.anr.msu.edu. Retrieved 2023-03-16.
- ^ "Purple Cat's Paw Pearly Mussel (Epioblasma obliquata obliquata) | U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service". FWS.gov. Retrieved 2023-03-16.
- ^ "Epioblasma obliquata perobliqua (white catspaw)". CABI Compendium. CABI Compendium. 2022-01-07. doi: 10.1079/cabicompendium.122620. ISSN 2958-3969.