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Cylindrical papershell, Anodontoides ferussacianus
Description: A small, short-lived
species, rarely getting over 100mm.
An elongated oval shape with a shell
height being about half the shell
length. The anterior end is a rounded
and the posterior is wide, blunt point.
The shell is thin, especially in
juveniles, with no lateral or
pseudocardinal teeth. The beak
sculpture is composed of 3 or 4 fine v-
shaped ridges. The nacre is white.
Juveniles are a light tan which
darkens to dark brown as they age. .
Similar species: They are quite
similar to the Paper pondshell in
general shape though these have a
much thinner shell and the beaks are
almost flat with no sculpturing.
Juvenile Giant floaters can appear
similar but their more oval shape and
their double looped beak sculpture is
distinctive. The Creeper is so similar,
including their beak sculpture, that it
can be very frustrating to decide which
species you have in hand. As a
general rule, the Cylindrical
papershell is more inflated and
appears more elongated than the
Creeper.
Conservation status: G5, N5, S4
Hosts: Black crappie, blacknose
shiner, bluegill, bluntnose minnow,
brook stickleback, common shiner,
fathead minnow, Iowa darter,
largemouth bass, spotfin shiner, white
sucker.
Habitats used: Small creeks and the
headwaters of larger streams in mud
and sand (Cummings and Mayer
1992). Small to medium-sized streams
in soft or coarse substrate (Seitman
2003). Small streams (Oesch 1995).
Small, quiet streams in sand or fine
gravel (Parmalee and Bogan 1998).
Headwater streams on packed cobble
to silty mud and clay (Watters et.al.
2009).
Native range: The Mississippi River
basin from Oklahoma to Colorado to
Minnesota to New York. St. Lawrence
River and Great Lakes. Ontario to
Saskatchewan in Canada.
Nebraska collection notes: This
species has been found quite widely
throughout Nebraska although, when
found, they are found in small
numbers.
Comments: This species seems to be
doing ok in Nebraska. If you look at
the list of fish hosts, you will note that
they are predominately small stream
fishes.
