Federal
Status: Not listed (Watters 1995)
Hickorynut - Obovaria olivaria
Federal
Status: Not listed (Watters 1995)
Ohio Status: Endangered (Watters 1995)
Key charactersistics: A thick, rounded or oblong shell with a smooth surface, greenish or yellowish brown, shallow beak cavity (Cummings, Mayer 1992).
Similar species: Round hickorynut, round pigtoe, ring pink, ebonyshell, Higgins eye, mucket (Cummings, Mayer 1992).
Description: Shell oval or oblong, thick, solid, and inflated. Anterior and posterior ends broadly rounded. Umbos slightly elevated above the hinge line, rounded, curved inward, and directed forward. Beak sculpture of four or five delicate, double-looped bars, usually evident only in very small shells. Shell smooth, olive green or yellowish brown, faintly rayed in young shells, becoming dark brown in old individuals. Length to 4 inches (10.2 cm) (Cummings, Mayer 1992).
Pseudocardinal teeth triangular, relatively small, widely divergent, and horizontal. Lateral teeth straight to slightly curved, wide, heavy, and fairly long. Interdentum narrow. Beak cavity shallow. Nacre white, iridescent posteriorly (Cummings, Mayer 1992).
Hosts: Shovelnose sturgeon (Watters 1995)
Habitat: Large rivers (rarely in medium or small streams) in sand or mixed sand and gravel (Cummings, Mayer 1992).
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