Rotundaria couchiana

(Redirected from Rio Grande monkeyface)

Rotundaria couchiana, the Rio Grande monkeyface, is a species of freshwater mussel. It is native to Chihuahua, Mexico and New Mexico and Texas in the United States.

Rotundaria couchiana

Possibly Extinct  (NatureServe)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Bivalvia
Order: Unionida
Family: Unionidae
Genus: Rotundaria
Species:
R. couchiana
Binomial name
Rotundaria couchiana
(I. Lea, 1860)
Synonyms

Quadrula couchiana (I. Lea, 1860)

This species experienced a tremendous decline due to habitat destruction in the 1800s. The last confirmed living individual was seen near Brackettville, Texas in 1898. This species is likely extinct, although there is the slim possibility that it could persist in poorly surveyed regions on the Rio Grande drainage.[1]

It was formerly classified under Quadrula, but in 2012 it was moved to Rotundaria based on genetic evidence.[2]

References

edit
  1. ^ a b NatureServe
  2. ^ Campbell, David; Lydeard, Charles (2012). "The Genera of Pleurobemini (Bivalvia: Unionidae: Ambleminae)". American Malacological Bulletin. 30 (1): 19–38. doi:10.4003/006.030.0102. S2CID 84056130.