Epioblasma cincinnatiensis I. Lea, 1840
Cincinnati riffleshell, Ohio riffleshell
Taxonomy & Nomenclature
Synonyms: Unio cincinnatiensis I. Lea, 1840 (basionym); Dysnomia (Torulosa) torulosa cincinnatiensis (I. Lea, 1840); Margaron (Unio) cincinnatiensis (I. Lea, 1840); Truncilla (Pilea) perplexa cincinnatiensis (I. Lea, 1840)
See Graf & Cummings (2025) for a more complete taxonomic history.
Conservation Status
Extinct (NatureServe, 2014, 2025; Center for Biological Diversity)
Last record: late 1800's (Center for Biological Diversity); 1909-1949 (NatureServe, 2014, 2025)
Distribution
Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio & Tennessee, USA
Biology & Ecology
Hypodigm
Media
References
Original scientific description:
Lea, Isaac. (1840). Descriptions of new fresh water and land shells. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 1(13): 284-289. [6 November]
Other references:
Adams, Henry and Adams, Arthur. (1857). The Genera of Recent Mollusca; Arranged According to their Organization, Vol. II, (31-32): 477-540. London: J. Van Voorst.
Burch, J. B. (1975). Freshwater unionacean clams (Mollusca: Pelecypoda) of North America. Malacological Publications: Hamburg, Michigan. 204 pp.
Cicerello, R. R. and Schuster, G. A. (2003). A guide to the freshwater mussels of Kentucky. Kentucky State Nature Preserves Commission Scientific and Technical Series 7:1-62.
Conrad, T. A. (1853). A synopsis of the family of Naïades of North America, with notes, and a table of some of the genera and sub-genera of the family, according to their geographical distribution, and descriptions of genera and sub-genera. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 6: 243-269.
Cummings, Kevin S. and Mayer, C. A. (1997). Distributional checklist and status of Illinois freshwater mussels (Mollusca: Unionacea). Pages 129-145 in: K.S. Cummings, A.C. Buchanan, C.A. Mayer, and T.J. Naimo (eds.) Conservation and management of freshwater mussels II: initiatives for the future. Proceedings of a UMRCC Symposium, October 1995, St. Louis, Missouri. Upper Mississippi River Conservation Committee, Rock Island, Illinois.
Frierson, L. S. (1927). A Classified and Annotated Checklist of the North American Niades. Waco, Texas: Baylor University Press. 111 pp.
Graf, Daniel L. and Cummings, Kevin S. (2021). A ‘big data’ approach to global freshwater mussel diversity (Bivalvia: Unionoida), with an updated checklist of genera and species. Journal of Molluscan Studies 87(1): eyaa034 (36 pp.). https://doi.org/10.1093/mollus/eyaa034
Graf, Daniel L. and Cummings, Kevin S. (2025). The Freshwater Mussels (Unionoida) of the World (and other less consequential bivalves). MUSSEL Project Web Site, https://www.mussel-project.net/. Accessed 30 June 2025.
Haas, F. (1969). Superfamilia Unionacea. Das Tierreich 88: x, 1-663. Walter de Gruyter & Co., Berlin.
Hopper, G. W., Bucholz, J. R., DuBose, T. P., Fogelman, K. J., Keogh, S. M. et al. (2023). A trait dataset for freshwater mussels of the United States of America. Scientific Data 10: 745 (pp. 1-15). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-023-02635-9
Johnson, R. I. (1978). Systematics and zoogeography of Plagiola (= Dysnomia = Epioblasma), an almost extinct genus of freshwater mussels (Bivalvia: Unionidae) from middle North America. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 148: 239-321.
Lea, Isaac. (1852). A Synopsis of the Family of Naïades. Philadelphia: Blanchard and Lea. 88 pp.
Lea, Isaac. (1870). A Synopsis of the Family of Naïades. Philadelphia: Henry C. Lea. 184 pp.
MolluscaBase eds. (2025). MolluscaBase. Epioblasma cincinnatiensis (I. Lea, 1840). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=857453 on 2025-06-30
Morrison, J. P. E. (1942). Preliminary report on mollusks found in the shell mounds of the Pickwidk Landing basin in the Tennessee River valley. Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 129: 339-392.
NatureServe. (2014). NatureServe Explorer: An online encyclopedia of life [web application]. Version 7.1. NatureServe, Arlington, Virginia. Available http://explorer.natureserve.org. (Accessed: January 29, 2015).
NatureServe. (2025). Epioblasma cincinnatiensis: Ohio Riffleshell. NatureServe Network Biodiversity Location Data accessed through NatureServe Explorer [web application]. NatureServe, Arlington, Virginia. Available at: https://explorer.natureserve.org/ [Accessed 30 June 2025]
Ortmann, A. E. (1909). Unionidae from an Indian garbage heap. Nautilus 23: 11-15.
Parmalee, P. W. and Bogan, Arthur E. (1998). The Freshwater Mussels of Tennessee. Knoxville, Tennessee: University of Tennessee Press. 328 pp.
Simpson, Charles Torrey. (1900). Synopsis of the naiades, or pearly fresh-water mussels. Proceedings of the United States National Museum 22(1205): 501-1044, pl. 18.
Simpson, Charles Torrey. (1914). A descriptive catalogue of the naiades, or pearly fresh-water mussels. Parts I-III. Detroit, Michigan: Bryant Walker. 1540 pp.
Watters, G. Thomas, Hoggarth, Michael A. and Stansbery, David H. (2009). The Freshwater Mussels of Ohio. Columbus, OH: Ohio State University Press. xiv + 421 pp. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv16b77pv
Williams, James D., Bogan, Arthur E., Butler, Robert S., Cummings, Kevin S., Garner, Jeffrey T., Harris, John L., Johnson, Nathan A. and Watters, G. Thomas. (2017). A revised list of the freshwater mussels (Mollusca: Bivalvia: Unionida) of the United States and Canada. Freshwater Mollusk Biology and Conservation 20: 33-58.
Williams, James D., Bogan, Arthur E. and Garner, Jeffrey T. (2008). Freshwater mussels of Alabama and the Mobile Basin in Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee. Tuscaloosa, Alabama: University of Alabama Press. xv + 908 pp.
Wright, B. H. (1888). Check List of North American Unionidae and Other Fresh Water Bivalves. Portland, Oregon: Dorne & Cook, Printers. 8 pp. (un paginated).
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