This is a demonstration of the ISM freshwater mussel image gallery.
Class Bivalvia : Subclass Paleoheterodonta : Genus Hemistena
Hemistena lata (Cracking pearlymussel)
The shell of the cracking pearlymussel is very thin, as its name indicates. The surface is yellowish brown to tan with broken green rays. It grows to four inches in length. Umbos are very low.
This species lives in the mud, sand, or gravel of medium to large rivers. In Illinois it occurred along the Wabash River.
Conservation status: probably extirpated from Illinois
Taxonomy: Order Unionoida; Superfamily Unionoidea; Family Unionidae; Subfamily Ambleminae
Collection of the Illinois State Museum, photograph by Karen Little
ISM Accession #: 679815
Class Bivalvia : Subclass Paleoheterodonta : Genus Hemistena
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