Roadless Areas
Home/Species/ Rhomboid Fingernailclam

Sphaerium rhomboideum

(Say, 1822)

Rhomboid Fingernailclam

G5Secure Found in 2 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →
G5SecureGlobal Rank
Least concernIUCN
LowThreat Impact
Identity
Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.110353
Element CodeIMBIV52060
Record TypeSPECIES
ClassificationSpecies
Classification StatusStandard
Name CategoryInvertebrate Animal
IUCNLeast concern
Endemicoccurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations
KingdomAnimalia
PhylumMollusca
ClassBivalvia
OrderVeneroida
FamilySphaeriidae
GenusSphaerium
Concept Reference
Turgeon, D. D., J. F. Quinn, Jr., A. E. Bogan, E. V. Coan, F. G. Hochberg, W. G. Lyons, P. M. Mikkelsen, R. J. Neves, C. F. E. Roper, G. Rosenberg, B. Roth, A. Scheltema, F. G. Thompson, M. Vecchione, and J. D. Williams. 1998. Common and scientific names of aquatic invertebrates from the United States and Canada: Mollusks. 2nd Edition. American Fisheries Society Special Publication 26, Bethesda, Maryland. 526 pp.
Conservation Status
Rank MethodLegacy Rank calculation - Excel v3.1x
Review Date2015-01-09
Change Date2004-06-07
Edition Date2015-01-09
Edition AuthorsMackie, G.L.
Threat ImpactLow
Range Extent200,000 to >2,500,000 square km (about 80,000 to >1,000,000 square miles)
Number of Occurrences> 300
Rank Reasons
This is a widespread species, with many occurrences and no significant threats at a global level.
Range Extent Comments
Range encompasses a band between 41 and 58 degrees latitude from the Pacific coastal zone to the Atlantic coastal zone. In Canada, it ranges from Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick west to southern British Columbia. In the United States, it ranges from Maine to Pennsylvania in the east to Montana and Idaho in the west (Herrington 1962, Mackie 2007). Although documented from Alaska (see Baxter 1987), Herrington (1962) and Mackie (2007) suggest the record is a misidentification of Sphaerium nitidum.
Occurrences Comments
This species is widely distributed in Canada and United States and represented by a large number of occurrences (subpopulations) probably >300.
Threat Impact Comments
No major threats exist at the present time or for the foreseeable future. Pollution, changes in land use, and habitat modification, such as drainage, are likely not of sufficient scope and severity to cause immediate problems.
Ecology & Habitat

Diagnostic Characteristics

This is the first recorded diploid chromosome number (2n = 44) found in any of the Sphaeriidae (Petkeviciute et al., 2007).

Habitat

Habitat includes small lakes and ponds with muddy bottoms and large mats of algae and macrophytic plants in water from 30-45 cm deep (Mackie 2007, Herrington 1962). It is also found in eddies in creeks and rivers (Herrington 1962). In Wisconsin the species is common in gravel and coarse sand substrates in rivers (Baker 1928 in Mackie 2007).
Other Nations (2)
CanadaN5
ProvinceRankNative
QuebecS4Yes
New BrunswickSUYes
British ColumbiaS5Yes
AlbertaSUYes
ManitobaS3Yes
SaskatchewanSUYes
Nova ScotiaSUYes
Island of NewfoundlandS1Yes
OntarioS4Yes
United StatesN5
ProvinceRankNative
IdahoS4Yes
VermontSNRYes
MontanaSNRYes
KentuckySUYes
MichiganSNRYes
WisconsinSNRYes
MassachusettsSNRYes
Roadless Areas (2)
Montana (1)
AreaForestAcres
Scotchman Peaks (MT)Kootenai National Forest53,909
Wyoming (1)
AreaForestAcres
Winegar HoleTarghee National Forest247
References (10)
  1. Baker, F.C. 1928b. The freshwater Mollusca of Wisconsin: Part II. Pelecypoda. Bulletin of the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey, University of Wisconsin, 70(2): 1-495.
  2. Baxter, R. 1987. Mollusks of Alaska: a listing of all mollusks, freshwater, terrestrial, and marine reported from the State of Alaska, with locations of the species types, maximum sizes and marine depths inhabited. Shells and Sea Life, Bayside, California. 163 pp.
  3. Bogan, A. 2013. World checklist of freshwater Bivalvia species. World Wide Web electronic publication. Version 2013 January 24.  Available online at http://fada.biodiversity.be/group/show/14. Accessed 11 July 2014.
  4. Graf, D.L. and K.S. Cummings. 2014. MUSSELp: the freshwater mussels (Unionoida) of the world (and other less consequential bivalves), updated 14 January 2014. MUSSEL Project Web Site, http://www.mussel-project.net/.
  5. Herrington, H.B. 1962. A revision of the Sphaeriidae of North America (Mollusca: Pelecypoda). Miscellaneous Publications, Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan, No. 118. 74 pp.
  6. Mackie, G.L. 2007. Biology of Freshwater Corbiculid and Sphaeriid Clams of North America. Ohio Biological Survey Bulletin New Series, 15(3):ix-436.
  7. Mackie, G.L. and L.A. Flippance. 1983a. Growth dynamics in <i>Sphaerium rhomboideum</i> (Bivalvia: Pisidiidae). Canadian Journal of Zoology 61(4):868-873.
  8. Mackie, G.L. and L.A. Flippance. 1983b. Life history variations in two populations of <i>Sphaerium rhomboideum</i> (Bivalvia: Pisidiidae). Canadian Journal of Zoology 61(4):860-867.
  9. Petkeviciute, R., G. Staneviciute, V. Stunzenasa, T. Lee, and D. O. Foighil. 2007. Pronounced karyological divergence of the North American congeners <i>Sphaerium rhomboideum</i> and <i>S. occidentale</i> (Bivalvia: Veneroida: Sphaeriidae). Journal of Molluscan Studies, 73: 315-321.
  10. Turgeon, D. D., J. F. Quinn, Jr., A. E. Bogan, E. V. Coan, F. G. Hochberg, W. G. Lyons, P. M. Mikkelsen, R. J. Neves, C. F. E. Roper, G. Rosenberg, B. Roth, A. Scheltema, F. G. Thompson, M. Vecchione, and J. D. Williams. 1998. Common and scientific names of aquatic invertebrates from the United States and Canada: Mollusks. 2nd Edition. American Fisheries Society Special Publication 26, Bethesda, Maryland. 526 pp.