(interior)
(exterior)
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Note: Red text
is defined in the Glossary
Description
Described by Rafinesque in 1820, the purple wartyback is appropriately
named for its purple nacre and nodules
mostly on the posterior half of the
shell. The shell is thick, varying
from somewhat circular to square in its general outline. There are
two heavy pseudocardinal teeth in the
left valve and one large tooth in the
right valve. The
lateral teeth are short and stout. A wing-like extension
of the shell may extend above the posterior
end of the hinge-line.
Distribution (see
map)
The range of the purple wartyback includes the Upper Mississippi
River Basin from Ontario south to Arkansas and the Cumberland and
Tennessee river basins in Tennessee, North Carolina, and Virginia.
In North Carolina, it is presently only know from the New River in
Alleghany County, where it appears to be rapidly declining. NOTE:
All headwater areas that flow into these occupied habitats should
receive special management.
Habitat Preferences
This species is found in mixed substrates in waterways ranging
in size from small streams to large rivers.
Life History
The purple wartyback is a tachytictic
breeder with a reproductive period beginning in June and
ending in August (Parmalee and Bogan 1998). Species in the catfish
family, including the channel catfish, yellow bullhead (Hove et
al. 1994, 1994a), flathead catfish, and black bullhead (Hove 1997)
are effective fish hosts for this species.
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