Content tagged with "Aquatic Invertebrates"

Round Pigtoe

Pleurobema sintoxia

Round pigtoes are more rounded than Wabash pigtoes. Usually, the nacre (the shell lining) is white, but in rare individuals it is bright pink.

This crayfish of the Big and Meramec river drainages has a bold blackish band (saddle mark) across the hind margin of the carapace. It lacks dark blotches or specks. The pincers are broad and powerful.

Salem Cave Crayfish

Cambarus hubrichti

A white crayfish with a special habitat: It lives in caves in the Ozarks. Its localized distribution makes its populations vulnerable to catastrophes that might pollute or damage their cave environment.

Scaleshell

Leptodea leptodon

Rarely seen, this Endangered freshwater mussel has a thin and delicate shell that is strikingly beautiful inside.

Scuds (Amphipods)

Species in the crustacean order Amphipoda

Often overlooked by people, but eagerly sought by fish, Missouri’s amphipods could be described as “shrimplike sowbugs.” They live in various aquatic habitats, and several species inhabit caves.

Sheepnose (Bullhead)

Photograph of Sheepnose freshwater mussel shell exterior view

Plethobasus cyphyus

The sheepnose has been classified as Endangered in Missouri and is a candidate for federal Endangered status.

Shrimp Crayfish

Orconectes lancifer

This medium-small crayfish of southeastern Missouri is light reddish brown to gray, and thickly dusted with darker specks. Its rostrum ("nose") is unusually long, with the tip longer than the base, and the pincers are narrow and weak.

Snuffbox

Epioblasma triquetra

The snuffbox has been classified as Endangered in Missouri and is a candidate for federal Endangered status. Perhaps it should also be a candidate for a new common name, since the popularity of snuff-taking is long past.