Upland Combshell, 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 upland combshell, Epioblasma metastriata, was listed as endangered on March 17, 1993 (58 FR 14330), primarily due to habitat modification, sedimentation, and water quality degradation. The upland combshell was described in 1838, from the Mulberry Fork of the Black Warrior River near Blount Springs, Alabama (58 FR 14330, March 17, 1993, p. 14331). Adult upland combshells were rhomboidal to quadrate in shape and were approximately 2.4 inches in length.
The upland combshell was historically found in shoals in rivers and large streams in the Black Warrior, Cahaba, and Coosa River systems above the Fall Line in Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee (Service 2000, p. 61). As with many of the freshwater mussels in the Mobile River Basin, it was found in stable sand, gravel, and cobble in moderate to swift currents. The historical range included the Black Warrior River and tributaries (Mulberry Fork and Valley Creek); Cahaba River and tributaries (Little Cahaba River and Buck Creek); and the Coosa River and tributaries (Choccolocco Creek and Etowah, Conasauga, and Chatooga Rivers).