84 
Rowland M. Shelley 
Uniomerus tetralasmus (Say 1831) [= Elliptio obesus (Lea) and U. 
obesus (Lea) (Dawley 1965); and U. obesus (Lea) (Johnson 
1984)]— Fig. 26-31. 
Diagnosis’. Periostracum coarse; mantle margin darkly pigmented. 
Localities: 4, 6, 7, 8, 12, 15, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24, N. 
Remarks : The second most abundant species in the area of study, U. 
tetralasmus is widespread in the central and eastern United States. On 
the Atlantic slope it ranges from the Chowan River system in Virginia 
to the Altamaha in Georgia (Johnson 1970, Burch 1975), and Johnson 
(1970), Burch (1975), and Johnson (1970, 1984) reported it from the 
Neuse, Roanoke, Tar, Cape Fear, Waccamaw, Yadkin, and Catawba 
basins of North Carolina. These views contrast with that of Clarke 
(1983), who considers U. tetralasmus a poorly understood species that is 
absent from the Roanoke, Tar, and Neuse systems. 
LOWER CAPE FEAR SPECIES 
Listed below are unionids that were not encountered in the upper 
Cape Fear River basin but have been reported from sites in the Coastal 
Plain. 
Villosa vibex (Conrad 1834) [= V. modioliformis (Lea) (Dawley 1965)]. 
Localities : N and Sprunt’s Pond, precise location unknown (Johnson 
1970). 
Lampsilis radiata radiata (Gmelin 1791) [= L. conspicua (Lea) and L. 
radiata conspicua (Lea) (Dawley 1965)]. 
Locality : N (Johnson 1970). 
Remarks : Fuller (1977:166, Fig. 4) showed photographs of male and 
female shells of what he called the “L. radiata complex” from Orton 
Pond, Brunswick County, which empties into the Cape Fear estuary 
below Wilmington. 
Anodonta couperiana (Lea 1842). 
Locality : N (Johnson 1970). 
Remarks: Fuller (1977) considered A. couperiana to be “Of Special 
Concern” to North Carolina. Its current existence at this site, Greenfield 
Lake in Wilmington, New Hanover County, is questionable, as recent 
attempts to collect it have failed (William Adams, pers. comm.). 
Elliptio congaraea (Lea 1831) [= E. dorsatus (Lea), E. forbesiana (Lea), 
E. sordidis (Lea), and E. strumosus (Lea), (Dawley 1965)]. 
Locality: Cape Fear River without further specification (Johnson 1970). 
The White Oak system is its northern range limit. 
Elliptio lanceolata (Lea 1828) [= E. productus (Conrad) (Walter 1956, 
Dawley 1965); E. fisherianus (Lea) and E. viridulus (Lea) (Dawley 
1965)]. 
