[4][5] Recent status surveys have located plicate rocksnail populations only in an approximately 88 km (55 mi) reach of the Locust Fork of the Black Warrior River, Jefferson and Blount counties, Alabama.

[7] The latest survey information indicates that the snail has recently disappeared from the upstream two-thirds portion of that habitat and now appears to be restricted to an approximately 32 km (20 mi) reach in Jefferson County.

[4] Dams change such areas by eliminating or reducing currents, and thus allowing sediments to accumulate on inundated channel habitats.

For example, many reservoirs in the Basin currently experience eutrophic (enrichment of a water body with nutrients) conditions, and chronically low dissolved oxygen levels.

[10][11] Such physical and chemical changes can affect feeding, respiration, and reproduction of these riffle and shoal snail species.