Tennessee clubshell facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Tennessee clubshell
Conservation status
Vulnerable (IUCN 2.3)
Imperiled (NatureServe)
Scientific classification
Genus:	Pleurobema
Species:	oviforme
Synonyms
Unio oviformis Conrad, 1834 Unio ravenelianus Lea, 1834 Unio rudis Conrad, 1837 Unio patulus Conrad, 1838 Unio holstonensis Lea, 1840 Unio argenteus Lea, 1841 Unio decisus Küster, 1852 Unio mundus Lea, 1857 Unio lesleyi Lea, 1860 Unio tesserulae Lea, 1862 Unio striatissimus J.G. Anthony, 1865 Unio clinchensis Lea, 1867 Unio planior Lea, 1868 Unio pattinoides Lea, 1871 Unio acuens Lea, 1871 Unio lawi Lea, 1871 Unio bellulus Lea, 1872 Unio brevis Lea, 1872 Unio conasaugaensis Lea, 1872 Unio clavus Call, 1885 Unio accuens Paetel, 1890 Unio swordianus S.H. Wright, 1897 Pleurobema swordiana Simpson, 1900 Pleurobema fassinans Ortmann, 1913

Pleurobema oviforme, the Tennessee clubshell, is a species of freshwater mussel in the family Unionidae, the river mussels. It is native to the eastern United States, where it occurs in Alabama, Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. It also previously occurred in Mississippi.

This is a mussel of medium size which is variable in appearance. It may be compressed or inflated and any of various shapes from squarish to oval. The shell may be yellowish to greenish or brownish, sometimes with greenish rays. The inner surface of the shell is white to silvery with some iridescence. There are different morphs across populations.

Several fish species act as hosts for the glochidia of this mussel, including the central stoneroller (Campostoma anomalum), river chub (Nocomis micropogon), common shiner (Luxilus cornutus), whitetail shiner (Cyprinella galactura), Tennessee shiner (Notropis leuciodus), telescope shiner (Notropis telescopus), and fantail darter (Etheostoma flabellare).

This species formerly occupied much of the Tennessee River system, where it was a common species. Its habitat is now fragmented and it now has a disjunct distribution in several river systems in the area, and it is absent from much of its former range. All of the remaining populations are considered threatened. They are impacted by channel alteration, dam flows, siltation, development, commercial clam harvesting, loss of the fish species that host its glochidia, and water pollution from several sources, such as mine tailings. As of 2023, it is under review for listing under the Endangered Species Act of 1973.

One of the species' synonyms, Unio lawi (Lea, 1871) was in honor of the conchologist Annie Law.