Field Guide

The gray-speckled crayfish is gray with numerous greenish-black speckles and blotches. A pair of large blotches are present near the back of the head, and another pair occur where the carapace joins the abdomen. In Missouri, it is found only in the southeastern section.

Adult red swamp crawfish are dark red (nearly black on the carapace) and have a wedge-shaped black stripe on the abdomen. Juveniles are a uniform gray, sometimes overlain by dark wavy lines. In Missouri it lives in the Bootheel.

The shield crayfish is small and tan, with a pattern of paired blackish dashes along the surface of the carapace and abdomen. The pincers are narrow, with short, abruptly tapering fingers. In Missouri it occurs only in our southeast counties.

When a floater dies, this large mussel with a thick shell will actually rise to the water surface and float as it decays.

Shaped like a checkered gunstock, with its unique, turned-down edge, pistolgrips are easy to identify.

This widespread species is one of the few Missouri mussels successful in shallow ponds and lakes.

Nacre color varies from purple to pink to white. In smaller rivers, the shell is much thinner.

Sometimes called the blue-point, this mussel species is widely distributed in Missouri rivers and is occasionally found along reservoir margins.

The shell of this mollusk is large and impressive in overall size. Although fairly flat, it can be more than 8 inches long. A large wing on the heelsplitter can be painful if you step on it.

Like the pink heelsplitter and fragile and pink papershells, the bluefer uses freshwater drum as a host.