Top Level : Harvesting : Mussels : Mussel Species

The Purple wartyback, Cyclonaias tuberculata, (Rafinesque, 1820), is a medium-sized mussel with numerous bumps (pustules) on the outer surface and a purple inner shell (nacre). Because of its purple nacre, it had no value in the button industry.
Illinois State Museum Collection (ISM-679862)

Photograph by Robert E. Warren, Illinois State Museum.