DISCOVERY OF THE FEDERALLY ENDANGERED FRESH-WATER MUSSEL, EPIOBLASMA-OBLIQUATA-OBLIQUATA (RAFINESQUE, 1820) (UNIONIDAE), IN OHIO

Discovery of the purple catspaw, Epioblasma obliquata obliquata, in Ki llbuck Creek, Coshocton County, OH, is reported. This subspecies of un ionid mollusc was thought to have been extirpated from the state in th e mid to late 1800s and was known only from two nonreproductive popula tions in Kentucky and Tennessee. The mussel was thought to be on the v erge of extinction. Fifteen living and 23 dead specimens of this subsp ecies were collected in September 1994 from Killbuck Creek. This is th e largest known population of this rare subspecies and, it is the only known population to currently support breeding individuals, It is thr eatened by soil erosion resulting from agricultural land-use practices such as clearing of the stream banks for farm fields and cattle grazi ng and by muskrat predation.