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Romano, M. A., D. B. Markillie and R. V. Anderson (1991). Electrophoretic analysis of the host-parasite relationship between flathead catfish Pylodictus olivaris and the mapleleaf mussel Quadrula quadrula. Pages 66 in K. Johnson, ed. Proceedings of the Mississippi River Research Consortium, La Crosse, Wisconsin (USA), Mississippi River Research Consortium.

The only reported fish host for the glochidial stage of the mapleleaf mussel is the flathead catfish; therefore, patterns of genetic structure within these two species should be correlated. To test this hypothesis, sample sites of similar mussel density and diversity were chosen from Pools 15, 16, 18, 19, 26 of the Mississippi River, and one site from the Illinois River. Electrophoretic analysis indicated gene flow among the mapleleaf populations tended to be higher within pools and lower between pools separated by lock and dam systems. Catfish populations exhibited relatively low levels of genetic variability, particularly in Pool 19, where episodes of pollutant stress may have been a factor. P. olivaris appears to have a direct effect on the genetic structure of Q. quadrula. Analyses of systematic relationships among populations of both species showed some parallelism of population structure between the two species. A previous study on Amblena plicata did not produce a similarity in that species population structure with P. olivaris. Therefore, the data suggest that the flathead catfish is the predominant host fish with mapleleaf mussel's glochidia.