Species Summary
 Anodonta implicata (Say, 1829) alewife floater
Features:
size: 100mm (up to 125mm)
beak: double-looped sculpture not nodulous; umbos not elevated above the hinge line
color patterns: occasionally with fine rays; periostracum yellowish-brown, greenish-brown, or
reddish-brown; nacre pink or purple, sometimes white;
shape: sub-ellipitical and elongate; ventral margin straight
shell features: a marked increasing shell thickness from posterior to anterior below the
pallial line; rounded posterior ridge
teeth: absent
Status:
abundance: uncommon
status: reportedly in decline; US, NY, NJ, CT: not legally protected
Distribution:
N.A. distribution: Nova Scotia west to Quebec (Canada), south to North Carolina
present metro distribution: NY: freshwater tidal Hudson River, upper Delaware
River watershed; NJ: Millstone River (lower Hudson River watershed), and the outlet
of Roosevelt Lake; CT: not present in the metro area Map
other regional localities: NY: upper Hudson River watershed; CT: Connecticut, Thames,
Housatonic, and South central coast watersheds
historical localities: CT: Housatonic River watershed
Life History:
habitat: favors slow, sometimes fast running water, and also quiet standing water;
substrate: cobble; known from stony river bottom on the Neversink River in the lower
Delaware River watershed (NY) Habitat Photo
hosts: Alosa pseudoharengus (Wilson, 1811) alewife; Catostomus commersoni
(Lacepede, 1803) white sucker; Gasterosteus aculeatus (Linneaus, 1758) three spine
stickleback; Lepomis gibbous (Linnaeus, 1758) pumpkinseed; Morone americana
(Gmelin, 1789) white perch
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New York Metropolitan Region and New Jersey
Freshwater Mussel Identification Handbook
Status: One species of Anodonta occurs in the metro area and adjacent
New Jersey. The native species Anodonta implicata is known in the two metro
area from two populations, until recently abundant in the Hudson and Delaware
Rivers of New York. These are reported by local biologists to be in decline-
presumably affected by the proliferation of the zebra mussel Dreissena polymorpha. The current
status of A. implicata in the Connecticut River and in New Jersey portions of the Delaware River
is unknown. A. implicata is not legally protected by the US or the states of the metro area.
anterior
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