Birdwing pearlymussel

{{Short description|Species of bivalve}} {{Speciesbox | name = Birdwing pearlymussel | image = Lemiox rimosus.jpg | image_caption = | status = CR | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 16 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=Cummings, K. |author2=Cordeiro, J. |date=2012 |title=''Lemiox rimosus'' |volume=2012 |article-number=e.T11479A502943 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2012.RLTS.T11479A502943.en |access-date=16 November 2021}}</ref> | status2 = CITES_A1 | status2_system = CITES | status2_ref = <ref>{{Cite web|title=Appendices {{!}} CITES|url=https://cites.org/eng/app/appendices.php|access-date=2022-01-14|website=cites.org}}</ref> | genus = Lemiox | parent_authority = Rafinesque, 1831 | display_parents = 2 | species = rimosus | authority = ([[Constantine Samuel Rafinesque-Schmaltz|Rafinesque]], 1831) | synonyms = *''Conradilla caelata'' (Conrad, 1834) *''Bariosta'' (''Lemiox'') ''rimosus'' (Rafinesque, 1831) *''Lemiox caelatus'' (Conrad, 1834) *''Margarita'' (''Unio'') ''caelatus'' (Conrad, 1834) *''Margaron'' (''Unio'') ''caelatus'' (Conrad, 1834) *''Micromya caelata'' (Conrad, 1834) *''Unio caelatus'' Conrad, 1834 *''Unio coelatus'' Conrad, 1834 *''Unio'' (''Lemiox'') ''rimosus'' Rafinesque, 1831 | synonyms_ref=<ref>{{GBIF|taxon=''Lemiox rimosus'' (Rafinesque, 1831)|id=2288178|access-date=10 March 2023}}</ref> }}

The '''birdwing pearlymussel''' ('''''Lemiox rimosus''''') is a rare [[species]] of [[freshwater mussel]] in the family [[Unionidae]], the river mussels. This [[Aquatic animal|aquatic]] [[bivalve]] is native to [[Tennessee]] and [[Virginia]] in the United States. Its range has declined over 90%.<ref name=tnc>{{cite web|url=https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.110500/Lemiox_rimosus|title=''Lemiox rimosus''|publisher=NatureServe|author=NatureServe|location=Arlington, Virginia|website=NatureServe Network Biodiversity Location Data accessed through NatureServe Explorer|date=3 March 2023|access-date=10 March 2023}}</ref> It is a federally listed [[endangered species]] of the United States.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ecos.fws.gov/ecp/species/6636#CurListStatuses|title=Birdwing pearlymussel (''Lemiox rimosus'')|website=Environmental Conservation Online System|publisher=U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service|access-date=10 March 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Federal Register|41|24062}}</ref>

This mussel remains in three rivers in Tennessee and Virginia, the [[Duck River (Tennessee)|Duck]], [[Clinch River|Clinch]], and [[Powell River (Tennessee River)|Powell Rivers]], having been [[local extinction|extirpated]] from many more. It is now extinct in the state of [[Alabama]].<ref name=tnc/>

Failed efforts to transplant the birdwing pearly mussel and the [[Cumberland monkeyface pearly mussel]] (''Theliderma intermedia''), also endangered, to local streams brought an end to construction on the half-completed and long-contested Columbia Dam on the [[Duck River (Tennessee)|Duck River]] in 1983.<ref>{{cite news |last=Aldrich |first=Marta |date=10 October 1999 |title=$83 Million Later, Unfinished Dam Being Dismantled |url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19991010/2988099/83-million-later-unfinished-dam-being-dismantled |newspaper=Seattle Times |location=Columbia, TN |access-date=13 September 2016}}</ref>

The [[greenside darter]] (''Etheostoma blennioides'') is an important host species for the birdwing pearly mussel's [[glochidia]] larvae. The mussel attracts the darter with a lure that looks like an aquatic snail. The glochidia release triggered by the darter's interaction with the lure directs the glochidia to attachment sites on the fish's gills. After a variable amount of time, often as long as one-and-a-half to two months,<ref name=kirk2023>{{cite web|url=https://dwr.virginia.gov/blog/saving-the-birdwing-pearlymussel-to-keep-virginias-waters-clean|title=Saving the Birdwing Pearlymussel to Keep Virginia's Waters Clean|last=Kirk|first=Molly|others=Photographs by Tim Lane|website=Notes from the Field|publisher=Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources|date=29 June 2023|access-date=1 July 2023}}</ref> the glochidia [[metamorphose]] into mussels and drop off the fish onto substrate. Glochidia survival to metamorphosis is optimal at relatively colder water temperatures than those preferred by other unionid species and their hosts.<ref name=kirk2023/>

==References== {{Reflist}}

[[Category:Natural history of Tennessee]] [[Category:Natural history of Virginia]] [[Category:Unionidae]] [[Category:Bivalves described in 1831]] [[Category:Taxa named by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque]] [[Category:ESA endangered species]] [[Category:Taxonomy articles created by Polbot]]