Kingdom Animalia Class Bivalvia Family Unionidae Rank Species | Phylum Mollusca Order Unionoida Genus Potamilus | |
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Similar Truncilla truncata, Potamilus alatus, Ellipsaria lineolata, Fusconaia flava, Leptodea | ||
Potamilus ohiensis, common name the pink papershell is a species of freshwater mussel, an aquatic bivalve mollusk in the family Unionidae. It is also known as the papershell or fragile heelsplitter, and is similar to the Fragile papershell and Pink heelsplitter species.
Description
The pink papershell has a thin, compressed, elongate shell, with rounded anterior and posterior ends. The surface is shiny, and brown or olive green in color. The nacre is pink or purple. These freshwater mussels grow as large as 7 inches (18 cm) in length. They generally live in large rivers, with mud, sand or silt bottoms. Fish known as the freshwater drum and white crappie act as hosts for the glochidia larvae of P. ohiensis.
References
Potamilus ohiensis Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA