TN00062 TURGID-BLOSSOM PEARLY MUSSEL EPIOBLASMA TURGIDULA
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: SHELL SMALL, ELLIPTICAL, OVATE OR OBOVATE IN SHAPE, VALVES INEQUILATERAL, RATHER SOLID, SLIGHTLY INFLATED, ANTERIOR END OF SHELL ROUNDED, POSTERIOR END OF MALE SHELLS IS POINTED WHILE THOSE OF FEMALES ARE BROADLY ROUNDED, POSTERIOR RIDGE OF MALE IS DOUBLE AND SOMEWHAT RAISED, ENDING IN A SLIGHT BIANGULATION, POSTERIOR RIDGES OF FEMALE SHELL BLEND INTO OR FORM THE MARSUPIAL SWELLING, MALE HAS A WIDE, SHALLOW RADIAL FURROW, FEMALE SHELLS HAVE ONLY A SLIGHTLY DEVELOPED MEDIAL RIDGE, WITH BOTH THE MEDIAL RIDGE AND RADIAL FURROW OBSCURED BY THE MARSUPIAL SWELLING, THE UMBOS ARE MODERATELY FULL AND ELEVATED AND LOCATED AT THE ANTERIOR THIRD OF THE SHELL, SHELL SURFACE IS MARKED WITH IRREGULAR GROWTH LINES, EPIDERMIS IS RATHER SHINY, HAVING A YELLOWISH-GREEN GROUND COLOR AND COVERED WITH NUMEROUS FINE GREEN RAYS SCATTERED OVER THE ENTIRE SURFACE, LEFT VALVE HAS TWO ROUGH SUBCOMPRESSED PSEUDOCARDINAL TEETH AND LACKS AN INTERDENTUM SEPARATING THEM FROM THE TWO SHORT STRAIGHT LATERAL TEETH, RIGHT VALVE HAS ONE SMALL TRIANGULAR PSEUDOCARDINAL TOOTH PARALLEL WITH THE HINGE LINE, SOMETIMES WITH A SECOND SMALL TOOTH BEFORE IT, AND A SINGLE LATERAL TOOTH, BEAK CAVITIES ARE SHALLOW, ANTERIOR ADDUCTOR MUSCLE SCARS ARE WELL- IMPRESSED, BUT THE POSTERIOR ADDUCTOR MUSCLE SCARS ARE ONLY IN THE ANTERIOR PORTION OF THE SHELL, POSTERIOR END OF FEMALE SHELLS IS ESPECIALLY THIN AND IRIDESCENT, MALE SHELLS ARE ELLIPTICAL WITH A DISTINCT, RAISED DOUBLE POSTERIOR RIDGE WHICH ENDS IN A BIANGULATION NEAR THE BASE, THERE IS A WIDE, SHALLOW RADIAL FURROW AND A FAINT MEDIAL RIDGE ANTERIOR TO THE POSTERIOR RIDGE, FEMALE SHELLS ARE SOMEWHAT OBOVATE WITH THE MARSUPIAL SWELLING OBLITERATING THE MEDIAL AND POSTERIOR RIDGES, WITH THE SHELL BEING SOMEWHAT CONCAVE IN THE REGION OF THE POSTERIOR RIDGES, THE NARROW GREEN RAYS ARE RATHER EVENLY DISTRIBUTED OVER THE VALVES IN BOTH SEXES, BUT THE GROUND COLOR OF THE MARSUPIAL SWELLING IS SOMETIMES SLIGHTLY DARKER *TN5587* REPRODUCTION: IS PROBABLY A WINTER BREEDER (BASED ON HABITS OF OTHER MEMBERS OF THIS GENUS) *TN5587*
References for Life History Codes
3895, 2100, 8858, TN5587
Comments on Life History Codes