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Mississippi National River and Recreation AreaA bridge spans the Mississippi River between wooded shores.
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Mississippi National River and Recreation Area
Purple Wartyback
(Cyclonaias tuberculata) Rafinesque, 1820
A Purple Wartyback mussel
K.S. Cummings, Illinois Natural History Survey
Other Common Names:
Purple Pimpleback; Wartyback; Missouri mapleleaf; Deerhorn.
Habitat:
Medium to large rivers in gravel or mixed sand and gravel.
Length:
Up to 5 inches (12.7 cm).
Outer Shell Color:
The outside shell color is brown or black.
Inner Shell Color:
Usually deep purple, or occasionally white with a purple tint.
Shell Thickness:
Moderately thick and heavy.
Shell Outline:
The entire shell outline is shaped like a circle, except for a flattened extension of the shell directly off of one side of the point where the two shell halves join. This extension has a straight edge, shaping this one "corner" of the shell somewhat like a square.
Shell Surface:
Rough: many small pimple-like bumps scattered over three-quarters of the outer shell surface. The surface without bumps is always located along the outer surface following the shell edge that is opposite from the squared-off "corner" of the shell. The bumps may form into small ridges along the squared-off outer surface of the shell. Entire shell surface may look either flattened or somewhat bulged-out. Looking at the inner shell, there is a deep depression: it forms a visible bulge on the outer shell surface (called the beak). This beak is covered in wavy lines, which look as though a fine-toothed comb were dragged in a wavy motion over the beak's outer surface.
Scientific Description:
Brown or black, heavy shell. Subrectangular, totally tuberculate. Beak sculpture extends onto disc. Incurrent papillae aborescent. Excurrent aperture entire (fused), lacking papillae.
Similar Looking Mussels:
Host Fish:
Black Bullhead, Yellow Bullhead, Channel Catfish, Flathead Catfish
Distribution:
Widespread but uncommon in most of the Midwest.
Minnesota State Listing:
Threatened.
Federal Listing:
None.
Coon Rapids Dam  

Did You Know?
Over 600 men worked around the clock using hand tools, horses and coal powered shovels to build the original Coon Rapids Dam in 1913. The dam was rebuilt between 1995 and 1997.

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Last Updated: September 20, 2006 at 13:32 EST