Pleurobema marshalli, the flat pigtoe or Marshall's mussel, was a species of freshwater mussel in the family Unionidae, the river mussels. It was native to Alabama and Mississippi, but it has not been seen since 1980. Though it is still listed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List[1] and as an endangered species on the US Endangered Species List,[2][3] it is likely extinct.[4][5]

Pleurobema marshalli
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Bivalvia
Order: Unionida
Family: Unionidae
Genus: Pleurobema
Species:
P. marshalli
Binomial name
Pleurobema marshalli
Frierson, 1927

This mussel was last seen in a stretch of the Tombigbee River before the habitat was destroyed by the installation of the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway.[4] No living or freshly dead specimens have been seen since.[6]

The US Fish and Wildlife Service press release in September 2021 formally proposed the species be delisted from the Endangered Species Act due to extinction, it was officially delisted on October 16, 2023.[7][8]

References

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  1. ^ a b Bogan, A.E. (1996). "Pleurobema marshalli". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 1996: e.T17667A7280976. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.1996.RLTS.T17667A7280976.en. Retrieved 15 November 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Flat pigtoe (Pleurobema marshalli)". Environmental Conservation Online System. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  3. ^ a b USFWS (7 April 1987) Endangered status for Marshall's Mussel (Pleurobema marshalii)... and Penitent Mussel (Epioblasma (=Dysnomia) penita). Federal Register 52(66):11162–11169. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  4. ^ a b NatureServe (7 April 2023). "Pleurobema marshalli". NatureServe Network Biodiversity Location Data accessed through NatureServe Explorer. Arlington, Virginia: NatureServe. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  5. ^ "U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Proposes Delisting 23 Species from Endangered Species Act Due to Extinction". U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service. September 29, 2021. Retrieved 2021-09-29.
  6. ^ USFWS. Tombigbee River Mussels 5-Year Review. April 2009. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  7. ^ "U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Proposes Delisting 23 Species from Endangered Species Act Due to Extinction" (Press release). Fish and Wildlife Service. 29 September 2021. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  8. ^ "21 Species Delisted from the Endangered Species Act due to Extinction | U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service". FWS.gov. 2023-10-16. Retrieved 2023-10-17.