- Range:
Blue = current range
Hollow circles = former range
- Status in Kansas:
Rare in Marais des Cygnes River
- North American Status:
(From NatureServe)
This is a wide-ranging
species occurring in southern Ontario in the Grand and Thames Rivers and throughout the
upper Mississippi River drainage, south to Arkansas and Missouri and has experienced some
declines in certain parts of the outer limits of its range but is still common in others.
It occurs in the Upper Mississippi River drainage generally; Lake St. Clair drainage, and
from Pennsylvania northwest to southern Michigan and northwestern Wisconsin, south to
Iowa, Missouri, and Arkansas.
- Comments:
As the name implies, the purple wartyback has pustules (bumps) on the exterior of
its dark brown shell. Internally, the nacre is a coppery-purple color. Because of this
colored interior, it was never valued for the button industry. Its shell appears more
rounded as compared to other thick-shelled species. Within Kansas, its distribution and
abundance is limited to the lower reaches of the Marais des Cygnes River. However, further
downstream in Missouri it was noted as the most abundant shell of the mussel community. It
is widespread across the eastern United States but is seldom common at any location. In
some of the Great Lakes drainages, the purple wartyback has returned to rivers where water
quality has improved.
- Fish Hosts:
channel catfish, flathead catfish, yellow bullhead and black bullhead
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