Top Level : Harvesting : Mussels : Mussel Species

The Spike, Elliptio dilatata (Rafinesque, 1820), disappeared from the Illinois River in the mid-1900s because of pollution, siltation and other human-caused changes in the river environment. (Conservation status: State threatened).
Illinois State Museum Collection (ISM-679823)

Photograph by Robert E. Warren, Illinois State Museum.

The <b>Spike</b>, <i>Elliptio dilatata</i> (Rafinesque, 1820), disappeared from the Illinois River in the mid-1900s because of pollution, siltation and other human-caused changes in the river environment. (Conservation status: State threatened).<br>Illinois State Museum Collection (ISM-679823)