> David, I was glad to hear you were doing molecular work on the southern
> Fusconaia and Pleurobema species, and I'm looking forward to the results.
> Without stealing any of your thunder associated with your future
> publications, can you offer opinions on the shell pics I posted?  There is
> one other large Trinity River form that I didn't photograph that looks very
> much like Burch's figure of Fusconaia cuneolus, including the rays.  They
> don't really show much of a median sulcus like they should if they were that
> species, though.  Some are fairly inflated and some are compressed, but they
> are otherwise very similar.

At the moment, I am hoping to see some genetic variation that will
help me decide what morphological variation is significant.  In other
words, I'm not especially confident about my ability to sort out the
Texas forms on photos yet.  I do know that there seems to be at least
one flava-like form in the Ozark region that differs from standard
flava, and that flava goes west at least to the Calcasieu River in
Louisiana.

cuneolus is a Tennessee River endemic form.

In general, what river system it's from is one of the most important
clues to identifying freshwater mollusks.

--
Dr. David Campbell
425 Scientific Collections
University of Alabama
"I think of my happy condition, surrounded by acres of clams"

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