Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Critical Habitat for Five Endangered and Two Threatened Mussels in Four Northeast Gulf of Mexico Drainages: Proposed rule.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), propose to designate critical habitat for the endangered fat threeridge, shinyrayed pocketbook, Gulf moccasinshell, Ochlockonee moccasinshell, and oval pigtoe, and the threatened Chipola slabshell and purple bankclimber (collectively referred to as the seven mussels), pursuant to the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). We propose to designate 11 units encompassing approximately 1,864 kilometers (1,158 miles) of river and stream channels as critical habitat. Proposed critical habitat includes portions of the Econfina Creek drainage in Florida, the Apalachicola--Chattahoochee--Flint River drainage in Alabama, Florida, and Georgia, the Ochlockonee River drainage in Florida and Georgia, and the Suwannee River drainage in Florida.