ROCK POCKETBOOK

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: This rare Kansas mussel is found only in the Marais des Cygnes River and Pottawatomie Creek. It can live in slow-moving rivers with muddy substrates. The wavy shell has unique knobs located on the umbos (the dorsally raised or inflated portion of the shells) which help anchor the shells. The shell is dark greenish-brown to black. Like other freshwater mussels, the rock pocketbook can be aged by counting its growth-rest lines, similar to the rings on a tree. Most riverine mussels live for decades and some may reach a century in age. The fish hosts for the rock pocketbook include freshwater drum, white crappie, gizzard shad, channel catfish and American eel.

Other Gastropods on the Kansas T&E List