Habitat ²

Adult mussels live in the clear water of shallow lakes or slow- moving streams. They feed by ltering phytoplankton and bits of decaying organic matter out of the water.

Distribution ²

Yukon: Restricted to the Porcupine and Tanana drainages in Yukon. Only specimens are from a lake at the headwaters of the Eagle River; also known from anecdotal reports or photographs from Scottie Creek (near Beaver Creek), and in the Old Crow region.
North America: Alaska (Aleutian Islands, southwestern Alaska to northern and central interior and into the upper Yukon River drainage) and Yukon.
Global: Russia (Kamchatka, Chukotka, Magadan, and Kuriles), Alaska, and Yukon.

Distinguishing Features ²

The Yukon Floater isn’t ashy. Its large shell is usually dark brown in older adults and lighter brown or olive green in young mussels. The interior of the shell is gun-metal blue. The shell is a little more rounded in shape than many mussels and grows as long as 15 centimetres.

Sources and Credits

1. (c) Femorale, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://www.femorale.com/shellphotos/detail.asp?species=Anodonta%20beringiana%20Middendorff,%201851
2. (c) L.G. Johanson, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)

More Info

• iNaturalist.ca taxon page
• Animal Diversity Web
• Biodiversity Heritage Library
• BOLD Systems BIN search
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
• SeaLifeBase
• World Register of Marine Species

Range Map

(c) NatureServe, some rights reserved (CC-BY-NC)

iNaturalist.ca Map