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The forkshell or Lewis pearly mussel, scientific name Epioblasma lewisii, was a species of freshwater mussel, an aquatic bivalve mollusk in the family Unionidae, the river mussels.
| Forkshell | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Bivalvia |
| Order: | Unionida |
| Family: | Unionidae |
| Genus: | Epioblasma |
| Species: | †E. lewisii |
| Binomial name | |
| †Epioblasma lewisii (Walker, 1910) | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Dysnomia lewisii Walker, 1910 | |
This species was endemic to the drainages of the Cumberland River and the Tennessee River in the United States, with one specimen reported from the Ohio River near Cincinnati, Ohio.[2] Its natural habitat was shallow riffle-beds of large rivers.[2] This habitat was largely destroyed by dam construction and canalization, and the last populations of this species died sometime during the middle of the 20th century. Only a single museum specimen was collected that preserved the internal soft tissues.[citation needed]
It appears to be closely related to Epioblasma flexuosa, which is also now extinct.
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