Page 125 - The Freshwater Mussels of Oklahoma

Partial Synonymy:
Quadrula pyramidata (Lea, 1840), Simpson 1914; Isely 1925
Quadrula solida (Lea, 1838), Isely 1925
Catillus solidum (Lea), Isely 1925
Quadrula obliqua (Lamarck, 1819), Isely 1995
Pleurobema cordatum (Rafinesque, 1820), Isely 1925; Branson 1983
Pleurobema cordatum coccineum (Conrad, 1836), Murray and Leonard 1962
Pleurobema cordatum catillus (Conrad, 1836), Murray and Leonard 1962
Pleurobema cordatum pyramidatum (Lea, 1840), Murray and Leonard 1962
Pleurobema coccineum (Conrad, 1836), Oesch 1984
Pleurobema pyramidatum (Lea, 1840), Isely 1925; Turgeon and others 1988;
Vidrine 1993
Pleurobema sintoxia (Rafinesque, 1820), Oesch 1984
Description:
“Shell generally, when adult, having the outline of a scalene or right-angled
triangle, the beaks being placed at the extreme anterior point and often projecting in
advance of the rest of the shell, subinflated or inflated, solid; beaks high and full, turned
forward over a wide, deep lunule that passes forward under them; anterior end truncated
squarely or with a slope below and usually having a large, faint second lunule; base line
nearly or quite straight; outline of dorsal slope lightly curved; posterior ridge, low
rounded, ending in a rounded point at the base of the shell; median ridge very high,
rounded, curved, usually separated from the posterior ridge by a radial, concave
depression; surface with irregular growth lines; epidermis brown to blackish, brownish-
green and rayed in young shells, scarcely subshining; pseudocardinals radial, often
oblique, torn; lateral of right valve more or less double; muscle scars small, deep; beak
cavities deep, compressed; nacre rose-colored or white, rarely yellowish or salmon,
thinner and iridescent behind” (Simpson, 1914, p888).
Hosts for Glochidia:
Bluegill (Watters, 1994).

Table 23. Summary of P. sintoxia shell characters.

Mean H/L Max. Mean W/L
H/L Range Length W/L Range
Location N (%) (%) (mm) (%) (%) Remarks
Red River Drainage
Kiamichi River 2 85.6 83.6-87.5 56 66.7 66.5-67.9 1 with pink nacre
Little River 1 - 78.4 37 - 56.8 pink nacre
Arkansas River Drainage
Illinois River 4 82.6 80.0-86.0 71 53.0 50.0-58.0 All with white nacre
Neosho River 4 87.7 79.8-94.8 84 60.6 55.6-65.6 -
Caney River 4 83.3 78.8-94.1 90 - - -
Verdigris River 31 80.1 71.6-90.8 97 57.9 47.8-70.6 7 of 24 with pink nacre

General Distribution:
Upper Mississippi River and lower Great Lakes drainage systems.

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