Page 164 - The Freshwater Mussels of Oklahoma

Partial Synonymy:
Quadrula pustulata (Lea, 1834), Simpson 1914; Isely 1925
Quadrula nodulata (Rafinesque, 1820), Isely 1925: Murray and Leonard 1962;
Johnson 1980; Branson 1982; Oesch 1984; Turgeon and others 1988;
Vidrine 1993; Watters 1995; Howells and others 1996
Description:
“Shell subquadrate, inflated, slightly inequilateral, solid; beaks high and full,
turned forward over a lunule, their sculpture a few coarse, irregular corrugations;
posterior ridge well developed, narrowly rounded or subangular, sometimes inclined to
be double below; anterior end rounded, sometimes feebly angled above; base line slightly
curved; posterior end almost squarely truncated, sinused in the middle at the termination
of a radial depression above the posterior ridge; surface with a few large warts or
pustules, often arranged in two imperfect rows, one on the posterior ridge, the other some
distance in front of it; epidermis generally smooth, subshining, ashy-green in young
shells, rarely feebly rayed, ashy-brown in old shells; pseudocardinals considerably split
up; lateral of the right valve single or double; beak cavities deep, compressed; anterior
scars small, deep; nacre white, iridescent behind” (Simpson 1914, p 856).
Hosts for Glochidia:
Black Crappie, Bluegill, Channel Catfish, Largemouth Bass, White Crappie
(Watters, 1994).

Table 31. Summary of Q. nodulata shell characters.

Maximum
Mean H/L H/L Range Length Mean W/L W/L Range
Location N (%) (%) (mm) (%) (%)
Arkansas River System
Neosho River 1 - 87.9 58 - 65.5
Verdigris River 2 84.5 83.3-85.7 54 - 61.1
Caney River 18 86.4 82.6-93.5 70 62.4 53.3-75.4
Hulah Reservoir 7 83.7 81.8-86.4 64 58.1 54.3-61.4
Red River System
Muddy Boggy River 1 - 82.0 50 - 64.0

General Distribution:
Mississippi River drainage and some adjacent Gulf of Mexico tributaries as well
as part of the Great Lakes drainage.
Oklahoma Distribution:
Found only in the Caney and Verdigris Rivers of northeastern Oklahoma and the
lower Muddy Boggy River in the southeastern part of the state.

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