Northern
riffleshell (Epioblasma torulosa rangiana)
The northern riffleshell is an endangered freshwater mussel that was historically found in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and western Ontario. It was widespread in the Ohio and Maumee River basins, and in tributaries of western Lake Erie. Today, the northern riffleshell occurs in short reaches of the Green River in Kentucky; the Detroit and Black Rivers in Michigan; Big Darby Creek in Ohio; and French Creek, LeBoeuf Creek and the Allegheny River in Pennsylvania. Restoration is ongoing in Illinois, Ohio, and West Viriginia.
Northern Riffleshell Natural History, Ecology, and Regulatory Information
Northern riffleshell on a river bottom.
Photo by Tom Watters
Fact sheet
Northern Riffleshell
Final
Rule: Determination of Endangered Status for the Northern Riffleshell
Mussel (Epioblasma torulosa rangiana) and the Clubshell Mussel (Pleurobema
clava) - January 22, 1993
Species
Profile (link goes to the USFWS national website)
Northern Riffleshell Recovery
Mussels Relocated from the Allegheny River to Illinois and Ohio
Mussels on the Move (2010)
Northern Riffleshell: Translocation to the Big Darby Creek in Franklin County, Ohio (2009)
Environmental Assessment for Clubshell and Northern Riffleshell Augmentation in Illinois - Public Comment Period July 8, 2008 through August 8, 2008
Private Stewardship Grant (May 2007): Reforestation and Wetland Restoration for Permanent Native Habitat in the St. Joseph River Watershed – Hillsdale County, Michigan; Defiance and Williams Counties, Ohio; Allen, Dekalb, and Noble Counties,
Indiana – ($45,000*)
Non-traditional S6 Grant (May 2007): Land Acquisition Initiative Along the Little Darby Creek State and National Scenic River
to Aid in the Recovery of Clubshell and Northern Riffleshell (Madison County, OH):
$247,395
Section 6 funded project (2006): Biology, Propagation, and Reintroduction of Northern Riffleshell (Epioblasma torulosa
rangiana) and Clubshell (Pleurobema clava)
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