brook floater

This species is found in Canada (New Brunswick and Nova Scotia)Caroline Caissie, Dominique Audet, [http://shediacbaywatershed.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Freshwater-mussel-Inventory-in-Shd-and-Scd-Rivers-FWM_Final-Report-March_2006.pdf Freshwater Mussel Inventory in the Shediac and Scoudouc Rivers] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150624133003/http://shediacbaywatershed.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Freshwater-mussel-Inventory-in-Shd-and-Scd-Rivers-FWM_Final-Report-March_2006.pdf |date=2015-06-24 }}, New Brunswick Wildlife Trust Fund, 2006, p. 12. Accessed August 21, 2014 and northeastern United States (Connecticut, Georgia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia and West Virginia);{{cite web|url=http://ecos.fws.gov/speciesProfile/profile/speciesProfile.action?spcode=F03D#conservationPlans|title=Brook floater (Alasmidonta varicosa)|publisher=ecos.fws.gov|accessdate=June 23, 2015}} It was formerly found in Rhode Island and four watersheds in Massachusetts but are now extinct in Rhode Island and almost extinct in Massachusetts. 1897 Research by Arnold Edward Ortmann showed it to be common in the Delaware and Susquehanna Rivers.{{cite book |author=Arnold Edward Ortmann |date=1897 |title=Collected papers, Volume 1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GnYuAAAAIAAJ&q=Alasmidonta+varicosa&pg=RA1-PA370 |publisher=self-published |access-date=June 23, 2015}}

This mussel lives in high relief streams, under boulders and in sand. Research has shown that it is highly sensitive to increased thermal temperature.{{cite web|url=http://www.co2science.org/articles/V16/N14/B1.php|title=Thermal History Impacts Thermal Tolerance of Freshwater Mussels|publisher=co2science.org|accessdate=June 23, 2015}} It associates with longnose and eastern blacknose dace, golden shiner, pumpkinseed, slimy sculpin and yellow perch.{{cite book |last=Hammerson |first=Geoffrey A. |date=2004 |title=Connecticut Wildlife: Biodiversity, Natural History, and Conservation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FWc3zDq9P10C&q=Alasmidonta+varicosa&pg=PA205 |publisher=University Press of New England |page=205 |isbn=978-1584653691 |access-date=June 23, 2015}}

The brook floater is sensitive to habitat loss for development, dams and road crossings, pollution, summer droughts, trampling, sedimentation, flow alteration, and low oxygen conditions. Hybridization with elktoe (Alasmidonta marginata), a longtime ally, has also been shown to be a threat.{{Cite journal|title=Changes in the Distribution of Freshwater Mussels (Unionidae) in the Upper Susquehanna River Basin, 1955–1965 to 1996–1997|journal=The American Midland Naturalist|volume=142|issue=2|pages=328|doi=10.1674/0003-0031(1999)142[0328:CITDOF]2.0.CO;2|year=1999|last1=Strayer|first1=David L.|last2=Fetterman|first2=Andrew R.}} Research has also shown the population is highly fragmented, low in density, prone to mortality due to old age and there are also low chances of longevity and viable reproduction. Trematoda rhopalocercous cercaria is a parasite of the brook floater.{{cite journal|jstor=3223759|title=Cercaria tiogae Fischthal, 1953, a Rhopalocercous Form from the Clam, Alasmidonta varicosa (Lamarck)|journal=Transactions of the American Microscopical Society|volume=73|issue=2|pages=210–215|date=1954|last1=Fischthal|first1=Jacob H.|doi=10.2307/3223759}} Current research shows populations that were large and widespread have declined by 50% to 95% to almost extinct.{{cite web|url=http://rcngrants.org/content/conservation-status-brook-floater-mussel-alasmidonta-varicosa-northeastern-united-states|title=The conservation status of the brook floater mussel, Alasmidonta varicosa, in the Northeastern United States: trends in distribution, occurrence, and condition of populations|publisher=rcngrants.org|accessdate=June 23, 2015}}

While the IUCN lists it as Vulnerable, the states of New Jersey, Virginia, Massachusetts and New Hampshire all list it as Endangered,{{cite book |author=Thomas F. Nalepa, Don W. Schloesser |date=2013 |title=Quagga and Zebra Mussels: Biology, Impacts, and Control, Second Edition |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Cy7OBQAAQBAJ&q=Alasmidonta+varicosa&pg=PA206 |publisher=CRC Press |page=206 |isbn=978-1439854372 |access-date=June 23, 2015}} Threatened in Vermont, Maine and New York,{{cite book |last=McBroom |first=Matthew |date=2013 |title=The Effects of Induced Hydraulic Fracturing on the Environment: Commercial Demands vs. Water, Wildlife, and Human Ecosystems |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U6GNAgAAQBAJ&q=Alasmidonta+varicosa&pg=PA285 |publisher=CRC Press |page=285 |isbn=978-1926895833 |access-date=June 23, 2015}} Rare/Endangered in Connecticut, Extinct in Rhode Island and "Species of Special Concern" by the federal government.{{cite book |author=Bruce E. Beans, Larry Niles |date=2003 |title=Endangered and Threatened Wildlife of New Jersey |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AihUrC8PfOkC&q=Alasmidonta+varicosa&pg=PA257 |publisher=Rutgers University Press |page=257 |isbn=978-0813532097 |access-date=June 23, 2015}}

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Category:Alasmidonta

Category:Bivalves described in 1819

Category:Taxonomy articles created by Polbot

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