The Freshwater Mussels (Unionidae) of the Lake Maurepas-Pontchartrain- Borgne Drainage System, Louisiana and Mississippi
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Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1976 The rF eshwater Mussels (Unionidae) of the Lake Maurepas - Pontchartrain -Borgne Drainage System, Louisiana and Mississippi. Edward Marc Stern Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Stern, Edward Marc, "The rF eshwater Mussels (Unionidae) of the Lake Maurepas - Pontchartrain -Borgne Drainage System, Louisiana and Mississippi." (1976). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 2944. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/2944 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 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Xerox University Microfilms 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106 I I 76-25,287 STERN, Edward Marc, 1946- THE FRESHWATER MUSSELS (UNIONIDAE) OF THE LAKE MAUREPAS-PONTCHARTRAIN- BORGNE DRAINAGE SYSTEM, LOUISIANA AND MISSISSIPPI. The' Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College Ph.D., 1976 Zoology Xerox University Microfilms,Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106 THE FRESHWATER MUSSELS (UNIONIDAE) OF THE LAKE MAUREPAS- FONTCHARTRAIR-BORGNE DRAINAGE SYSTEM, LOUISIANA AND MISSISSIPPI A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of Zoology add Physiology by Edward Marc Ste m B.A., University of Texas at El Paso, 1969 M.S., University of Texas at El Paso, 1971 May, 1976 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to thank the members of my committee, Dr. John W. Day, Jr., Dr. Dee S. Dundee, Dr. Walter J. Harman, Dr. George H. Lowery, Jr., and especially my chairman, Dr. J. F. Woodrlng, for their aid and comments. I also want to acknowledge the following individuals for the invaluable contributions they made: Dr. David H. Stansbery, for his aid in the identification of several specimens and his comments; Dr. J. P. Morgan and Dr. C. 0. Durham, Jr., for their suggestions concerning the geological aspects of this study; Mr. Dale Givens, who provided much of the water quality data; Mr. Jim Denson, who took the photographs for the plates; Ms. Alison Hanson, who drew the shell shapes for Fig. 2; and Mrs. Linda McNabb, for typing thiB manuscript. Finally I want to thank my wife, Margaret, for her encouragement and patience. 11 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS............................................ 11 LIST OF TABLES..................................... lv LIST OF FIGURES........................................... v LIST OF PLATES............................................. vi LIST OF MAPS................................................ viii ABSTRACT.................................................... x INTRODUCTION................................................ 1 Scope. ............................................ 1 Previous Work.......................................... 1 Physiography of the Drainage System.................... 2 Methods........................... 6 ECOLOGY OF FRESHWATER MUSSELS.............................. 7 SYSTEMATICS................................................ 15 Introduction.............. 15 Accounts of Species.................................... 22 Additional Louisiana Unlonacea ........................ 157 Additional Freshwater Pelecypods ...................... 157 ORIGIN AND AFFINITIES........................................166 KEY TO THE UNIONACEA OF LOUISIANA............................183 GLOSSARY.................................................... .193 LITERATURE CITED..............................................198 VITA..........................................................206 ill LIST OF TABLES TABLE Page 1. Chemical and physical d a t a .......................... 3 2. Chemical and physical d a t a ........................... 11 3. Outline of the higher taxa of freshwater pelecypods............................................13 4. Shell ratios for the Fusconaia flava complex...................... , ....................... 42 5. Outline of the Fusconaia flava complex................43 6. Additional Louisiana Unionacea............... 158 7. Extirpated Louisiana Unionacea ...................... 159 8. Distribution of the Unlonidae of the Lake Maurepas-Pontchartrain-Borgne drainage system in other selected gulf coastal drainages........... 173 9. Louisiana Unlonidae whose gulf coastal distribution terminates at the Lake Maurepas- Pontchartraln-Borgne drainage system .... ........ 177 10. Total number of species in each river system of the Lake Maurepas-Pontchartrain-Borgne drainage system................... 182 iv LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE Page 1. Shell morphology of a freshwater mussel.................18 2. Shell shapes.......................................... 19 3. Beak sculpture and shell morphology.................... 20 v LIST OF PLATES PLATE Page 1. Amblema pllcata ............. 24 2. Elliptlo beadleiana ............................. 28 3. Elliptlo crassldens ................................. 31 4. Fusconaia ebena ..... 34 5. Fusconaia flava complex ........................... 39 6. Fusconaia flava complex, dorsal view. .............40 7. MegalonaiaB gjgantea. ............................... 45 8. Plectomerus dombevanus. ............................. 49 9. Quadrula pustulosa. .................................. 53 10. Quadrula quadrula quadrula ................... .... 57 11. Quadrula quadrula apiculata........... 61 12. Trltogonia verrucosa....................................64 13. Unior trus declivis....................................68 14. Pnlomerue tetralasmus...................................72 15. Anodonta grandis. ......................... 76 16. Anondonta imbecllls ................................. 80 17. Arcldens confragosus. ......... .......... , . 83 18. Lasmigona complanata................................... 86 19. Strophltus radlatus .................................. 90 20. Carunculina parva .......... ......... .... 94 21. Carunculina texasensis. ..... .................... 98 22. Glebula rotundata , ............. 101 Vi PLATE Page 23 • Lampsllls anodontoldes................................. 105 24. Lamps Ills excavata......................................109 25. Lampsills radlata hydiana ............................ 113 26. Lamps Ills straminea....................................H? 27. Leptodea fragilis......................................121 28. Llgumla recta..........................................125 29. Llgumla subrostrata....................................129 30. Obllquarla reflexa......................................132 31. Qbovarla lacksonlana.................................... 135 32. Qbovarla unlcalor ........... ........ ... 138 33. Proptera inf lata........................................1^1 34. Proptera purpurata........ .......................... 1^4 35. Truncilla donaclformls........................... 147 36. .^losa lienosa ..... 151 37. Villosa v i b e x .......................................... 1-*^ 38. Additional Louisiana pelecypods ...................... 181 39. Beak and shell sculpture of selected unlonlds ......... 164 40* Beak sculpture of selected unlonlds..................... 165 vil LIST OF MAPS MAP Page 1. Study A r e a ......................................... 4 2. Amblema pllcata. ..................................