Midwest Region Endangered Species Conserving the nature of America

Endangered Species Program

 

The mission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Endangered Species program is conserving and restoring threatened and endangered species and their ecosystems.

 

 

 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife

Service in the Midwest

 

The Midwest Region includes Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio and Wisconsin. Find a location near you.

 

The Midwest Region includes Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio and Wisconsin.
Find a location near you »

Spectaclecase

Cumberlandia monodonta

 

Adult spectaclecase. Photo by USFWS; Nick Rowse

The spectaclecase is a large mussel that can grow to at least 9 inches in length. The shape of the shell is elongated, sometimes curved, and somewhat inflated (hence its name).

Photo by USFWS; Nick Rowse

The spectaclecase is a freshwater mussel found in the Mississippi, Missouri, and Ohio River basins. Today, its range includes Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. With few exceptions, spectaclecase populations are highly fragmented and restricted to short stream reaches.

 

Propagation and Reintroduction Plan

The Service cooperated with state, federal, and local agencies, universities, and other partners to develop a propagation and reintroduction plan for Spectaclecase and will cooperate with those partners to implement this plan. The primary purpose of planned augmentations or reintroductions should be to establish free-ranging, self-sustaining wild populations of the species. 

 

Spectaclecase Recovery Plan Outline (Jan. 2014) - - 18-page PDF: 1MB Adobe PDF Icon)

 

Spectaclecase Fact Sheet (March 2012)

 

Information about the Sheepnose (the mussel listed as endangered in the same package as the spectaclecase)

 

Spectaclecase Listed as Endangered

 

News Release:

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Lists Two Freshwater Mussels as Endangered (March 12, 2012)

 

Federal Register Final Rule: Determination of Endangered Status for the Sheepnose and Spectaclecase Mussels Throughout Their Range

 

Questions and Answers: Sheepnose and Spectaclecase Mussels Listed as Endangered (March 2012)

 

Status Assessment Report for the spectaclecase, Cumberlandia monodonta, occurring in the Mississippi River system (September 2002) - - 66-page PDF; 276KB Adobe PDF Icon

 

 

Midwest Endangered Species Home

 

 

Last updated: February 11, 2021