Genus Utterbackia

Class Bivalvia : Subclass Paleoheterodonta : Genus Utterbackia

Utterbackia imbecillis (Paper pondshell)
The paper pondshell mussell shell is small and thin with flattened beaks(grows to four inches in length). It is elongate, oblong, with a rounded anterior end and somewhat pointed posterior end. Umbos are well forward and flattened. The surface is smooth, shiny, light yellow in young shells and on umbo of adults. The remainder of the shell is brownish green, occassionally with fine green rays. This species lives in ponds, lakes, and sluggish mud-bottomed pools of creeks and rivers. It lives throughout Illinois except in the extreme northeastern corner.
Conservation status: widespread and locally abundant
Taxonomy: Order Unionoida; Superfamily Unionoidae; Family Unionidaw; Subfamily Anodontinae

Collection of the Illinois State Museum, photograph by Karen Little
ISM Accession #: 678952

Class Bivalvia : Subclass Paleoheterodonta : Genus Utterbackia

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