82 
Rowland M. Shelley 
Tribe Pleurobemini 
Elliptio folliculata (Lea 1838) [= E. perlatus (Lea) and E. perstriatus 
(Lea) (Dawley 1965); and E. arctata (Conrad) (Johnson 1970)] — 
Fig. 23. 
Diagnosis’. Valves more than three times as long as high, ventral margin 
with variable indentation near midlength. 
Localities’. 14, 16, L. 
Remarks'. Johnson (1984) agreed with Davis et al. (1981) that Unio per- 
latus, assigned to the arcuate unionids in the Cape Fear system, was 
probably a synonym of E. folliculata instead of E. arctata, where it had 
been placed by Johnson (1970). In the 1970 paper Johnson reported a 
large series from the lower Cape Fear River, and the present material 
extends the range of E. folliculata into the Piedmont Plateau. 
Elliptio raveneli (Conrad 1834) [= E. confertus (Lea), E. livingstonesis 
(Lea), E. micans (Lea), and E. tuomeyi (Lea) (Dawley) (1965); and 
E. icterina (Conrad) (Johnson 1970)] — Fig. 24-25. 
Diagnosis’. Posterior slope of valves angled, caudoventral corner slightly 
pointed; mantle margin slightly pigmented. 
Localities : 17, 19, 22, 24, G, M, Q. 
Remarks’. Elliptio raveneli is widely distributed from the Escambia 
River system in Florida to the White Oak system of North Carolina 
(Johnson 1970, Burch 1975). Besides the Cape Fear, it is known from 
the Broad, Catawba, Yadkin, and Waccamaw drainages of North Caro- 
lina (Johnson 1970, 1984). 
Elliptio complanata (Lightfoot 1786) [= E. complanatus roanokensis 
(Lea) (Walter 1956, Dawley 1965); E. burkensis (Lea), E. catawben- 
sis (Lea), E. complanatus jejunus (Lea), E. complanatus quadrilate- 
rus (Lea), E. errans (Lea), E. insulsus (Lea), E. purus (Lea), E. 
spadiceus (Lea), and E. subinflatus (Conrad) (Dawley 1965)] — Fig. 
32-38. 
Diagnosis’. Valves rounded posteriorly; mantle margin heavily pigmented. 
Localities: 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 24, 25, 26, A, 
B, D, E, F, G, H, N, Q. 
Remarks'. The most widely distributed and abundant unionid in eastern 
North America and one of the most poorly understood systematically, 
E. complanata ranges from northern Canada to Georgia (Johnson 1970, 
Burch 1975). Specimens have been collected in the Broad, Catawba, 
Yadkin, Waccamaw, Neuse, Tar-Pamlico, and Roanoke drainages in 
addition to the Cape Fear (Johnson 1970, 1984). Walter (1956) encoun- 
tered this species at 46 localities in the upper Neuse basin, six of which 
were medium to large rivers; in the Tar drainage, Clarke (1983) found 
living specimens at 53 stations and empty valves at 40, mostly in the Tar 
River itself. This species was also the only unionid Clarke (1983) 
