Viviparus intertextus

> Viviparus intertextus (Say 1829)

> Habitat & Distribution
This is primarily a species of the American interior, widespread in the Mobile, Mississippi, and other Gulf drainages from Texas to Minnesota according to Clench & Fuller (1965). Its occurrence in the Atlantic drainages, from southern North Carolina through Georgia, seems peripheral. It appears to be restricted to swamps and slow-moving rivers of the Coastal Plain, sometimes extending into the Southeastern Plains ecoregion, often in shallow or even ephemeral habitats. Although the waters inhabited by V. intertextus typically carry some dark stain, it is my impression that they are not excessively acidic.

> Ecology & Life history
Cook (1949) has documented filter feeding (or perhaps “ciliary feeding” is more descriptive) in the European V. viviparus. The sedentary, burrowing behaviour reported for the European animals closely matches that displayed by V. intertextus in swamps of the Middle Atlantic Coastal Plain. Nothing is known regarding the life cycle of V. intertextus. Some concern has been expressed regarding its conservation status in South Carolina (Fuller et al. 1976), but the general inhospitality of its preferred environment (mosquito and alligator-infested swamps) makes undercollection a distinct possibility.

> Taxonomy & Systematics
Viviparus intertextus is taxonomically well-characterized and systematically stable (Clench & Fuller 1965).

> Maps of Viviparus distribution
Click the small map to enlarge it, or download the state-specific PDFs

North Carolina (PDF)

South Carolina (PDF)

Georgia (PDF)

> References
Clench, W. (1962) A catalogue of the Viviparidae of North America with notes on the distribution of Viviparus georgianus, Lea. Occas. Pprs. on Mollusks, Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard, 2, 261-87. Clench, W. & Fuller, S. (1965) The genus Viviparus in North America. Occas. Pprs. on Mollusks, Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard, 2, 385-412. Cook, P. (1949) A ciliary feeding mechanism in Viviparus viviparus (L). Proc. Malacol. Soc. Lond. 27: 265-271. Fuller, S. L. H., F. W. Grimm, T. L. Laavy, H. J. Porter, & A. H. Shoemaker (1976) Status Report: Fresh Water and Terrestrial Mollusks. Pp 55 – 59 in Proceedings of the First South Carolina Endangered Species Symposium (D. M. Forsythe & W. B. Ezell, eds.)