FLUTEDSHELL

Photo by Bob Gress
used by permission

Federal Status:
None

State Status:
Threatened

• Range:
  Dark Blue = Counties with designated critical habitat
  Light Blue = Historical records
• Comments: The flutedshell can be best identified by the wavy flutings on its posterior end. These look like rounded hills and valleys that resemble corrugations. If a shell is found, the lateral teeth are absent or so reduced they do not interlock. In Kansas, the flutedshell can be found in the Spring and Neosho rivers. A riverbed of mostly gravel with moderate current is ideal habitat for this mussel. The larval forms, called glochidia, of the flutedshell attach to the fins of their fish hosts using a pair of tiny hooks. They remain attached until they metamorphose and drop off as miniature mussels. Meanwhile, the fish host may transport them to new habitat. The fish hosts that occur in Kansas are largemouth bass, banded darter, northern hogsucker and common carp.

Other Gastropods on the Kansas T&E List