Epioblasma

Dysnomia Agassiz, 1852 Epioblasma is a North American genus of freshwater mussels, aquatic bivalve mollusks in the family Unionidae, the river mussels.

All Unionidae are known to use the gills, fins, or skin of a host fish for nutrients during the larval glochidia stage.

Examination of other species within the genus Epioblasma may further reveal unusual reproductive mechanisms.

[1] Note: Taxa with a "†" symbol are extinct due to human activity This entire genus is imperiled.

Of those remaining, all are federally protected species in the United States.

In September, 2017, a total of 700 golden riffleshell mussels, a federally-endangered species, were released into the Clinch River and Indian Creek. The release comes nearly twenty years after a chemical spill from an overturned tanker truck eliminated the mussel from the Clinch River; and after years of work to rear the animal in captivity by the states of Virginia and Kentucky as well as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Virginia Tech.