Dear All,
Just happened to be looking at an old Wards Catalogue (circa 1910) where
that shell (as Lampsilis leptodon) from Michigan was available for 15
cents.  This shell (like so many others that have gone on the list
recently) is not endangered, and one of the rivers I am familiar with,
the lower Meramec in Missouri, it is quite a common shell.

Alan Gettleman
Merritt Island, FL


Harry G. Lee wrote:
>
> Dear Readers,
>
> Sarah and the USFWS have skillfully avoided using the scientific name of the Scaleshell Mussel (note upper case/antirevisionist epithet), which is known to us amateurs (and, I'm sure, several professionals) as Leptodea leptodon Rafinesque, 1820.  This constitutes a marvelously absurd reverse affectation.
>
> Harry
>