Its common names are the Ouachita rock pocketbook and Wheeler's pearly mussel.

[1] The former monotypic genus[3] of Arkansia was named for the state of Arkansas, where the mussel was first discovered.

[3] This is a federally listed endangered species of the United States.

[4] This species is native to Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas[2] in the United States, which have only four or five small, isolated populations.

Of the remaining populations, only the one located in the Kiamichi River in Oklahoma is viable.