Medionidus penicillatus
Photo: Wikimedia Commons (CC) via https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medionidus_penicillatus
Overview
A detailed profile for this species is sourced from the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species as assessments become available.
The Gulf Moccasinshell faces severe population declines primarily due to dam construction and river channelization that have fragmented its habitat and altered natural flow regimes in Gulf Coast river systems. Water pollution from agricultural runoff and urban development has degraded water quality, while sedimentation from land-use changes has buried suitable substrate areas essential for this filter-feeding mussel. The species' dependence on specific fish hosts for larval development makes it particularly vulnerable to declining fish populations in its range.
Habitat
The Gulf Moccasinshell inhabits sandy and muddy substrates in medium to large rivers and streams throughout the Gulf Coast drainage systems of the southeastern United States. This freshwater mussel requires well-oxygenated waters with stable flow patterns and depends on specific fish species as hosts for its larval stage.
