3 Oct 1998
     Finding living Quadrula fragosa (winged mapleleaf) was serendipity.  In
October 1985 I had a free day while finishing a St Croix River project (part
of Wisconsin/ Minnesota boundary near Twin Cities, MN).  I drove to a state
park and asked about river mussels.  The park naturalist happened to walk in
(on his day off), and said he had some shells but had no idea as to their
origin, but thought they were from nearby.  I offered to ID the shells.  At
the bottom of  the box there were 2 shells not seen from area rivers for over
60 yrs.  I told him as payment I wanted these 2 shells as they wouldn't mean
anything to him, but meant a lot to me.   Dr. Stansbery confirmed my ID's.
     The following summer (1986) I spent a wk camping/searching for Q.
fragosa.  The river was high, searching was difficult, but on the last day, in
the last bag of shells, there was 1/2 winged mapleleaf.  At least I knew where
they lived.
     We spent June 1987 working for WI DNR doing a shoreline/middens study to
identify high diversity areas for further (diving) studies. We also did some
work in shallow water.  One of our "crew", the 11 yr old son of a DNR employee
actually found the first live Q. fragosa. I confirmed the ID of that specimen,
and of several other rare species. A never-to-be-forgotten day as my father
died suddenly that nite.
     Some malacologists have questioned whether Q. fragosa is a distinct
species, but the specimen was clearly different from the common Mississippi
River mapleleaf; we only found 1 mapleleaf, Q. quadrula, in the area).  The
winged mapleleaf is now federally endangered, hanging on by a thread.
Marian E Havlik
Malacological Consuiltants
1603 Mississippi Street
La Crosse, WI 54601-4969
email: [log in to unmask]
Phone/Fax: 608-782-7958