More than 40 species of freshwater mussels are native to the Great Lakes. All are filter feeders. Most are considered endangered and/or restricted to protected areas. Exotic dreissenid mussels are largely to blame -- faster-growing dreissenids settle on the shells of the native species effectively smothering them. Adults are male and female, fertilization usually takes place internal to the female with young brooded in the mother's gills until they reach a glochidia stage. The juvenile glochidia stages of unionids are usually parasitic on fish - often confined to a single host species.

Field guide to Freshwater Mussels of the Midwest - Includes keys, profiles for all species and photos of each

Photos of Illinois Mussels - IDNR - Photos

INHS Mollusk Collection

Freshwater Mussels of the New York Metro Area and New Jersey

Life History of Freshwater Mussels - North Carolina Atlas of Freshwater Mussels and Endangered Fish

Species List
	Common Name	Genus	Species	Reported Locations**
	mucket	Actinonais	ligamentina	CEO
	elktoe	Alasmidonta	marginata	CEO
	traingle floater		undulata	O
	slippershell mussel		viridis	CEO
	threeridge	Amblema	plicata plicata	CE
	cylindrical papershell	Anodontoides	ferussacianus	CEO
	purple wartyback	Cyclonais	tuberculata	CE
	eastern elliptio	Elliptio	complanta	CEO
	spike		dilatata	CEO
	tubercled blossom	Epioblasma	torulosa rangiana	CE
	snuffbox		triquetra	CE
	wabash pigtoe	Fusconia	flava	CE
	plain pocketbook	Lampsilis	cardium	CE
	wavy-rayed lampmussel		fascicola	CE
	pocketbook		ovata	W HCEO
	eastern lampmussel		radiata	R CEO
	fat mucket		siliquoidea	CEO
	white heelsplitter	Lasmigona	complanata complanata	CEO
	creek heelsplitter		compressa	CEO
	fluted shell		costata	CEO
	green floater		subviridis	E (exotic -GLANSIS)
	fragile papershell	Leptodea	fragilis	CEO
	eastern pondmussel	Ligumia	nasuta	CEO
	black sandshell		recta	CEO
	threehorn wartyback	Obliquaria	reflexa	CE
	round hickorynut	Obovaria	subrotunda	CE
	round pigtoe	Pleurobema	coccineum (sintoxia)	CE
	pink heelsplitter	Potamilus	alatus	CEO
	pink papershell		ohiensis	E
	kidneyshell	Ptychobranchus	fasciolaris	CE
	eastern floater	Pyganodon	cataracta	CEO
	giant floater		grandis	CEO
	pimpleback	Quadrula	pustulosa pustulosa	CE
	mapleleaf		quadrula	CE
	salamander mussel	Simpsonais	ambigua	CE
	creeper	Strophitus	undulatus	CEO
	lilliput	Toxolasma	parvus	CE
	fawnsfoot	Truncilla	donaciformis	CE
	deertoe		truncata	CE
	paper pondshell	Utterbackia	imbecillis	CEO
	rayed bean	Villosa	fabalis	CE
	rainbow		iris	CEO
** Reported locations based on a limited literature search. Codes indicate presence reported but absence of a code should not be interpreted as a species absence. H (Lake Huron) based on: Abundance, Biomass, and Species Composition of Benthic Macroinvertebrate Populations in Saginaw Bay, Lake Huron, 1987-96. Thomas Nalepa, David Fanslow, Margaret Lansing, Gregory Lang, Mark Ford, Gerald Gostenik, and David Hartson. NOAA Technical Memorandum GLERL-122. Relationships among zoobenthos, sediments, and organic matter in littoral zones of western Lake Erie and Saginaw Bay. 1983. Richard A. Cole and Diana L. Weigmann. JGLR 9(4)568-581. Wave-zone macrobenthos of the exposed Canadian shores of the St. Lawrence Great Lakes. 1978. D.R. Barton and B.N. Hynes. JGLR 4(1)27-45. Benthic Community Structure and Composition among rocky habitats in the Great Lakes and Keuka Lake, NY. 1987. Michael H. Winnell and David J. Jude. JGLR 13(1)3-17. NOAA Great Lakes Nonindigenous Species List C (St. Clair - Detroit River Corridor) based on: Zebra Mussel Infestation of Unionid Bivalves (Unionidae) in North America. DW Schlosser, TF Nalepa, and GL Mackie. AMER. ZOOL., 36:300-310 (1996) A Refuge for Native Freshwater Mussels (Bivalvia: Unionidae) from Impacts of the Exotic Zebra Mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) in Lake St. Clair. DT Zanatta, GL Mackie, JL Metcalfe-Smith, and DA Woolnough. J. Great Lakes Res. 28(3):479-489 Internat. Assoc. Great Lakes Res., 2002 Changes in the Biodiversity of Freshwater Mussels in the Canadian Waters of the Lower Great Lakes Drainage Basin Over the Past 140 Years JL Metcalfe-Smith, SK Staton, GL Mackie, and NM Lane. J. Great Lakes Res. 24(4):845-858, 1998. E (Lake Erie) based on: Zebra Mussel Infestation of Unionid Bivalves (Unionidae) in North America. DW Schlosser, TF Nalepa, and GL Mackie. AMER. ZOOL., 36:300-310 (1996) Changes in the Biodiversity of Freshwater Mussels in the Canadian Waters of the Lower Great Lakes Drainage Basin Over the Past 140 Years JL Metcalfe-Smith, SK Staton, GL Mackie, and NM Lane. J. Great Lakes Res. 24(4):845-858, 1998. O (Lake Ontario) based on: Changes to the deepwater benthos of eastern Lake Erie since the invasion of Dreissena 1979-1993. 1997. R Dermott and D Kerec. CJFAS 54: 922-930. Changes in the Biodiversity of Freshwater Mussels in the Canadian Waters of the Lower Great Lakes Drainage Basin Over the Past 140 Years JL Metcalfe-Smith, SK Staton, GL Mackie, and NM Lane. J. Great Lakes Res. 24(4):845-858, 1998. W (wave zone = 0-2m) based on: Wave-zone macrobenthos of the exposed Canadian shores of the St. Lawrence Great Lakes. 1978. D.R. Barton and B.N. Hynes. JGLR 4(1)27-45. R (rocky habitats) based on: Benthic Community Structure and Composition among rocky habitats in the Great Lakes and Keuka Lake, NY. 1987. Michael H. Winnell and David J. Jude. JGLR 13(1)3-17.
Photos courtesy of: Photos of Illinois Mussels - IDNR Field guide to Freshwater Mussels of the Midwest Freshwater Mussels of the New York Metro Area and New Jersey

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