The Inflated heelsplitter (Potamilus inflatus) is a species of freshwater mussel

Mussel

The common name mussel is used for members of several families of clams or bivalvia mollusca, from saltwater and freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other edible clams, which are often more or less rounded or oval.The...

, an aquatic

Aquatic animal

An aquatic animal is an animal, either vertebrate or invertebrate, which lives in water for most or all of its life. It may breathe air or extract its oxygen from that dissolved in water through specialised organs called gills, or directly through its skin. Natural environments and the animals that...

 bivalve mollusk in the family Unionidae

Unionidae

Unionidae is a family of freshwater mussels, the largest in the order Unionoida, the bivalve mollusks sometimes known as river mussels, naiads, or simply as unionids.The range of distribution for this family is world-wide...

, the river mussels.

This species was called by the common name

Common name

A common name of a taxon or organism is a name in general use within a community; it is often contrasted with the scientific name for the same organism...

 Alabama heelsplitter in the standard reference, Turgeon, 1998. Because another species Lasmigona alabamensis

Lasmigona alabamensis

Lasmigona alabamensis, common name Alabama heelsplitter, is a species of freshwater mussel, an aquatic bivalve mollusk in the family Unionidae....

was also given that same name in that publication, this duplication of name caused some confusion. Therefore the common name of this species was subsequently changed to "inflated heelsplitter".

This species is endemic to the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. It is an endangered species.