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Photo © Kevin Cummings
Butterfly (Ellipsaria lineolata), listed as Endangered in Wisconsin, is found in large rivers in the western and southern parts of the state. It prefers a stable substrate containing rock, gravel and sand in swift current. The known host species include three common fish; drum, green sunfish, and sauger.
The table below provides information about the protected status - both state and federal - and the rank (S and G Ranks) for Butterfly (Ellipsaria lineolata). See the Working List Key for more information about abbreviations. Counties shaded blue have documented occurrences for this species in the Wisconsin Natural Heritage Inventory database. The map is provided as a general reference of where occurrences of this species meet NHI data standards and is not meant as a comprehensive map of all observations.
Note: Species recently added to the NHI Working List may temporarily have blank occurrence maps.
| Summary Information | |
|---|---|
| State Status | END |
| Federal Status in Wisconsin | none |
| State Rank | S2 |
| Global Rank | G4G5 |
| Tracked by NHI | Y |
| WWAP | SGCN |
Note: a species guidance document is not available at this time. Information below was compiled from publication PUB-ER-085-99 (now out-of-print).
Identification: Yellowish brown shell with broken brown rays is smooth, triangular, and flattened, with a sharply angled posterior ridge. The anterior end is broadly rounded, and the posterior end pointed. The beak sculpture has a few fine, double-looped ridges. Old shells have faint brown rays and are up to 4 inches (10.2 cm) long. The beak cavity is shallow to moderately deep. The nacre is white.
Habitat: Inhabits large rivers in sand or gravel substrates.
State Distribution: Occurs in the Mississippi, lower Wisconsin and St.Croix Rivers.
Phenology: Host fish are freshwater drum (Aplodinotus grunniens), green sunfish (Lepomis cyanellus), and sauger (Stizostedion canadense). The glochidia have been found on green sunfish in July.
Management Guidelines: Habitat destruction and river pollution have resulted in mussel declines. Protection of habitat and improvements in water quality along with restriction of dredging, impoundments, sand and gravel mining, and navigational improvements would benefit this species. The development of fish runways to facilitate the movement of host species through or around dams could help to protect this species.
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Photo © Kevin Cummings.
The table below lists the natural communities that are associated with Butterfly. Only natural communities for which Butterfly is "high" (score=3) or "moderate" (score=2) associated are shown. See the key to association scores for complete definitions. Please see the Wildlife Action Plan to learn how this information was developed.
| Natural community | Score |
|---|---|
| Warmwater rivers | 3 |
| Warmwater streams | 2 |
The table below lists the ecological landscape association scores for Butterfly. The scores correspond to the map (3=High, 2=Moderate, 1=Low, 0=None). For more information, please see the Wildlife Action Plan.
Ecological priorities are the combinations of natural communities and ecological landscapes that provide Wisconsin's best opportunities to conserve important habitats for a given Species of Greatest Conservation Need. The 10 highest scoring combinations are considered ecological priorities and are listed below. More than 10 combinations are listed if multiple combinations tied for 10th place. For more information, please see the Wildlife Action Plan.
* Ecological priority score is a relative measure that is not meant for comparison between species. This score does not consider socio-economical factors that may dictate protection and/or management priorities differently than those determined solely by ecological analysis. Further, a low ecological priority score does not imply that management or preservation should not occur on a site if there are important reasons for doing so locally.
Conservation actions respond to issues or threats, which adversely affect species of greatest conservation need (SGCN) or their habitats. Besides actions such as restoring wetlands or planting resilient tree species in northern communities, research, surveys and monitoring are also among conservation actions described in the WWAP because lack of information can threaten our ability to successfully preserve and care for natural resources.