{{Short description|Species of bivalve}} {{Speciesbox | image = Fusconaia mitchelli.jpg | status = CR | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref =<ref>Bogan, A.E. 1996. [http://www.iucnredlist.org/search/details.php/19056/all Fusconaia mitchelli]. [https://web.archive.org/web/20140627094911/http://www.iucnredlist.org/ 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. ] Downloaded on 9 July 2016.</ref> |status2=LE |status2_system=ESA |status2_ref=<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ecos.fws.gov/ecp/species/3963|title=false spike (''Fusconaia mitchelli'')|website=Environmental Conservation Online System|publisher=U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service|access-date=20 January 2025}}</ref> | genus = Fusconaia | species = mitchelli | authority = [[George Gaylord Simpson|Simpson]], 1895 | synonyms = ''Quadrula mitchelli'' }}
'''''Fusconaia mitchelli''''', the '''false spike''', is a [[species]] of [[freshwater mussel]], an [[aquatic animal|aquatic]] [[bivalve]] [[mollusc]] in the family [[Unionidae]], the river mussels.
This species is native to [[Mexico]], where its historical range is in the states of [[Coahuila]], [[Nuevo Leon]], and [[Tamaulipas]], and the [[United States]], where it was found in the states of [[New Mexico]] and [[Texas]].
==Conservation== This species has experienced an extreme population decline due to habitat deterioration. Until recently, no live individuals had been observed since the late 1970s, leading many researchers to believe it was close to (if not already) extinct. However, interest in this species was revived in 2011 when a fresh-dead shell was discovered. A 2011 a survey of the [[Guadalupe River (Texas)|Guadalupe River]] near [[Gonzales, Texas]] revealed a small surviving population, with seven live mature individuals counted.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Randklev |first=Charles |display-authors=etal |date=2012 |title=False Spike, ''Quadrula mitchelli'' (Bivalvia: Unionidae), is Not Extinct: First Account of a Live Population in Over 30 Years |journal=American Malacological Bulletin |volume=30 |issue=2 |pages=327–328 |doi=10.4003/006.030.0213|bibcode=2012AMalB..30..327R |s2cid=86854005 |url=https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/nrem_pubs/1 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>
==Taxonomy== In 2016, this species underwent its first genetic study due to its recent rediscovery. The results showed that this species was better placed in ''Fusconaia'' rather than ''Quadrula'', which it was previous included in.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Pfeiffer |first=John |display-authors=etal |date=2016 |title=Generic reclassification and species boundaries in the rediscovered freshwater mussel 'Quadrula' mitchelli (Simpson in Dall, 1896) |journal= Conservation Genetics |volume=17 |issue=2 |pages=279–292|doi=10.1007/s10592-015-0780-7 |bibcode=2016ConG...17..279P |s2cid=16877311 }}</ref> Historically, it also was formerly included in the now-obsolete genus ''Quincuncina''.
<gallery widths="200px" heights="180px"> File:Fusconaia mitchelli2.jpg|Live ''Fusconaia mitchelli'' from the Guadalupe River, Gonzales County, Texas, in 2011. </gallery>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q3017309}}
[[Category:Molluscs of the United States]] [[Category:Molluscs of Mexico]] [[Category:Fusconaia|mitchelli]] [[Category:Molluscs described in 1895]]
{{Unionidae-stub}}