Lilliput - Toxolasma parvus
Federal Status: Not listed (Watters 1995)
Ohio Status: Not listed (Watters 1995)
Key charactersistics: Small shell, usually no more than an inch long, elliptical or cylindrical, dark green or brown, with a clothlike texture (Cummings, Mayer 1992).
Similar species: Purple lilliput, Texas lilliput, little spectaclecase (Cummings, Mayer 1992).
Description: Shell small, elliptical or cylindrical, relatively solid, and inflated. Anterior and posterior ends rounded. Umbos inflated and slightly elevated above the hinge line. Beak sculpture consists of five or six distinct angled ridges. Surface of the shell with a clothlike texture, dark green, brown, or dark brown and rayless. Length to 1.5 inches (3.8 cm) (Cummings, Mayer 1992).
Pseudocardinal teeth thin, elevated, compressed, and serrated; two in the left valve, one or two in the right. Lateral teeth long, thin and straight; two in the left valve, one in the right. Beak cavity moderately deep. Nacre silvery or bluish white and highly iridescent (Cummings, Mayer 1992).
Hosts: Bluegill, green and orangespotted sunfish, warmouth, white crappie (Watters 1995).
Habitat: Ponds, lakes, and creeks to large rivers in mud, sand, or fine gravel (Cummings, Mayer 1992).
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