Monkeyface

(Quadrula metanevra) Rafinesque, 1820
K.S. Cummings, Illinois Natural History Survey		Next Previous Gallery Glossary Mussel Main Page
Other Common Names:	Knobbed rock shell.
Habitat:	Medium to large rivers in gravel or mixed sand and gravel.
Length:	Up to 4 inches (10.2 cm).
Outer Shell Color:	Green or light to dark Brown. Usually with zig-zag green lines or V-shaped markings (especially young mussels)
Inner Shell Color:	Pearly white, with iridescent coloring on one end.
Shell Thickness:	Thick.
Shell Outline:	An outline of the entire shell varies in shape: from almost round to nearly, but not perfectly square (imagine a square blown up, like a balloon). There may be an indentation in the shell outline just to one side of a raised ridge on the outer shell surface.
Shell Surface:	Outer surface is rough: many small pimple-like bumps scattered over most of the shell's surface. The bumps may be larger around a single raised ridgeline that runs from the beak (the point near where the two shell halves connect) to the shell edge farthest away from the beak. There may be a tiny flattened extension of the shell where the two shell halves join.
Scientific Description:	Shell brown, usually with zig-zag green lines (especially young mussels); multiple, large tubercles on posterior ridge. Soft parts colorful. Incurrent papillae aborescent.
Similar Looking Mussels:	None
Host Fish:	Sauger, sunfishes.
Distribution:	Relatively uncommon but may be locally abundant.
Minnesota State Listing:	Threatened.
Federal Listing:	None.
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