Green-blossom Pearly Mussel, 2022
mixed media on paper with metallic accents
5.125" x 7"
$97 including US shipping
From the US Fish and Wildlife Service proposal for removing 23 species from the Federal Lists of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants due to extinction:
The southern acornshell (
Epioblasma othcaloogensis
) was listed as endangered on March 17, 1993 (58 FR 14330), primarily due to habitat modification, sedimentation, and water quality degradation.
The southern acornshell was described in 1857 from Othcalooga Creek in Gordon County, Georgia. Adult southern acornshells were round to oval in shape and approximately 1.2 inches in length.
Habitat modification was the major cause of decline of the southern acornshell (Service 2000, p. 57). Other threats included channel improvements such as clearing and snagging, as well as sand and gravel mining, diversion of flood flows, and water removal for municipal use; these activities impacted mussels by alteration of the river substrate, increasing sedimentation, alteration of water flows, and direct mortality from dredging and snagging (Service 2000, p. 6-13). Runoff from fertilizers and pesticides results in algal blooms and excessive growth of other aquatic vegetation, resulting in eutrophication and death of mussels due to lack of oxygen.