Extinct Species

Top to bottom: leafshell, round combshell, Tennessee riffleshell
Top to bottom: Epioblasma flexuosa (Leafshell), Epioblasma personata (round combshell), Epioblasma propinqua (Tennessee riffleshell)


Leafshell
Epioblasma flexuosa (Rafinesque, 1820)

Round combshell
Epioblasma personata (Say, 1829)

Tennessee riffleshell
Epioblasma propinqua (Lea, 1857)

Wabash riffleshell
Epioblasma sampsonii (Lea, 1861)

The four species of the genus Epioblasma listed above have not been found alive in the Midwest in more than 75 years, and all are currently considered extinct (Turgeon et al. 1988, Appendix 2). Three are illustrated here in the likelihood their shells may be encountered while collecting along the banks of the Wabash and Ohio rivers and their larger tributaries.

Species Account Index