Page 22 - The Freshwater Mussels of Oklahoma

Partial Synonymy:
Lampsilis ligamentina, Simpson 1914
Lampsilis ligamentina gibba, Isely 1925
Actinonaia carinata gibba, Isely 1925
Actinonaias carinata carinata, Murray and Leonard 1962
Actinonaias ligamentina carinata, Oesch 1984
Actinonaias ligamentina, Branson 1984; Turgeon and others 1988; Vidrine 1993
Description:
“Shell solid, almost regularly long elliptical, rounded in front, rounded slightly or
pointed behind about midway up from the base of the shell, young and adult specimens
moderately inflated, old specimens decidedly swollen, having a low, rounded posterior
ridge, slightly gaping at the anterior base; old shell having a well-developed lunule
running through under the beaks; beaks scarcely inflated, low, their sculpture consisting
of very faint, doubly-looped, irregular ridges; ligament large, long; surface nearly smooth
or marked with rude, irregular, low, concentric ridges, tawny to pale greenish with broad,
rather faint and somewhat broken rays; left valve with two small pseudocardinals and
two remote, rather small laterals; right valve with two pseudocardinals, the anterior
smaller, and sometimes a small posterior third tooth, with one high lateral; beak cavities
not deep; muscle scars large, well impressed and smooth; nacre white or pink, much
thickened in front in old shells; female shells very slightly produced at posterior base”
(Simpson 1914, p79-80).
Hosts for Glochidia:
Banded Killifish, Black Crappie, White Crappie, Bluegill, Green Sunfish,
Largemouth Bass, Orangespotted Sunfish, Rock Bass, Sauger, Smallmouth Bass, White
Bass, Yellow Perch (Watters, 1994).
Comments:
Although Isely (1925) and Branson (1984) both report this species from the
northeastern part of Oklahoma (Neosho River and Fourteenmile Creek), I believe all of
these records are of male Lampsilis rafinesqueana (Frierson 1927). The shells of L.
rafinesqueana are remarkably similar to A. ligamentina and can be easily misidentified.
The specimen illustrated by Murray and Leonard (1962) from the Neosho River in
Kansas is almost certainly L. rafinesqueana.

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