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Harvesting the River

Genus Fusconaia

Class Bivalvia : Subclass Paleoheterodonta : Genus Fusconaia

Fusconia ebena (Ebonyshell)
The Ebonyshell mussel shell is solid, rounded, and inflated. The light brown to black smooth surface features ridges marked by growth periods. It grows to four inches in length.
This species lives in the sand and gravel of large rivers. In Illinois it has occurred along the Wabash, Ohio, Mississippi, and Illinois river systems.
Conservation status: threatened in Illinois
Taxonomy: Order Unionoida; Superfamily Unionoidea; Family Unionidae; Subfamily Ambleminae

Collection of the Illinois State Museum, photograph by Robert Warren
ISM Accession #: 675167

<b><i>Fusconia ebena</i> (Ebonyshell)</b>

Class Bivalvia : Subclass Paleoheterodonta : Genus Fusconaia

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