The Daily Bulletin Archive

By Mary A. Durlak

A healthy population of a rare species of mollusk, Truncilla macrodon, was discovered in the Colorado River in Texas by Lyubov Burlakova, principal investigator and research scientist with Buffalo State’s Great Lakes Center, and Alexander Karatayev, director of the Great Lakes Center, in May.

Since the native species—commonly known as Texas Fawnsfoot—was first described in 1859, only about 200 live specimens have been found, and only 12 in the last two decades. However, the Buffalo State team discovered a population of Texas Fawnsfoot consisting of about 3,000 individual specimens.

Burlakova, whose research focuses on biodiversity and conservation of freshwater ecosystems, was excited by the discovery but remains cautious. “We were very fortunate to discover a healthy population of this rare endemic species considered almost lost,” she said. “However, the status of other endemic species remains disturbing.” The colony of the Texas Fawnsfoot is the only colony that has been found. The team is returning to Texas to continue its research later this summer.

Since 2004, Burlakova, along with Karatayev and researchers from other institutions, has been conducting Texas-wide surveys of unionids, the family to which 300 North American mollusk species belong. The work has been funded through the State Wildlife Grant Program provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service via Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Their surveys helped to update the current status of several other populations of rare and endemic species in Texas.

A petition to include Texas Fawnsfoot and five other species that scientists consider to be at risk of extinction under the protection of the Endangered Species Act is being reviewed by the secretary of the interior.