Margaritiferidae Explained

Margaritiferidae is a family of medium-sized freshwater mussels, aquatic bivalve molluscs in the order Unionida.[1] [2] It is the most threatened of all unionid families.[3]

The family is sometimes referred to as the freshwater pearl mussel family,[4] but "freshwater pearl mussel" more often applies to the species Margaritifera margaritifera.[5] [6] [7] The name refers to the thick layer of nacre (mother of pearl) lining the interior of the shell of the species, which enables them to produce pearls.

Taxonomy

A 2018 study suggested a new phylogeny and systematics of the Margaritiferidae, comprising two subfamilies, Gibbosulinae and Margaritiferinae, and four genera, Gibbosula, Cumberlandia, Margaritifera, and Pseudunio.

This family has ancient origins, having diverged from the ancestors of the Unionidae during the Late Triassic with the crown group of the Margaritiferidae arising by the Middle Jurassic, and both extant subfamilies diverging by the Late Jurassic. All extant genera diverged from one another by the Late Jurassic or Early Cretaceous.

Genera

Genera within the family Margaritiferidae include:[8]

Subfamily Margaritiferinae

Subfamily Gibbosulinae

Fossil genera

Several fossil genera are known, dating back to the Middle Jurassic:

Notes and References

  1. Text may have been copied from this source, which is available under a Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.
  2. Book: Huber, Markus . 2010 . Compendium of Bivalves. A Full-color Guide to 3'300 of the World's Marine Bivalves. A Status on Bivalvia after 250 Years of Research . ConchBooks . Hackenheim . 901 pp. + CD . 978-3-939767-28-2.
  3. Manuel Lopes-Lima . Ivan N. Bolotov . 1 . 1 October 2018 . Expansion and systematics redefinition of the most threatened freshwater mussel family, the Margaritiferidae . . 127 . 98–118 . 10.1016/j.ympev.2018.04.041 . 1055-7903 . 29729933 . 4 September 2021 . free . 1822/72343 . 24130614.
  4. 2 . Bolotov . Ivan N. . Bespalaya . Yulia V. . Vikhrev . Ilya V. . Aksenova . Olga V. . Aspholm . Paul E. . Gofarov . Mikhail Y. . Klishko . Olga K. . Kolosova . Yulia S. . Kondakov . Alexander V. . Lyubas . Artyom A. . Paltser . Inga S. . Konopleva . Ekaterina S. . Tumpeesuwan . Sakboworn . Bolotov . Nikita I. . Voroshilova . Irina S. . Colgan . Donald James . Taxonomy and Distribution of Freshwater Pearl Mussels (Unionoida: Margaritiferidae) of the Russian Far East . . Public Library of Science (PLoS) . 10 . 5 . 26 May 2015 . 1932-6203 . 10.1371/journal.pone.0122408 . e0122408. 26011762 . 4444039 . free . 2015PLoSO..1022408B .
  5. Web site: Mitchell . Daniel . Margaritifera margaritifera . Animal Diversity Web . 2010 . 4 September 2021.
  6. Popov . Igor . The impact of publication on freshwater pearl mussel conservation: To conceal or to reveal the location of threatened habitats? . Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems . Wiley . 30 . 9 . 2020 . 1052-7613 . 10.1002/aqc.3342 . 1816–1820. free . 2020ACMFE..30.1816P .
  7. Bauer . G. . Reproductive Strategy of the Freshwater Pearl Mussel Margaritifera margaritifera . Journal of Animal Ecology . Wiley, British Ecological Society . 56 . 2 . 1987 . 1365-2656 . 5077 . 691–704 . 10.2307/5077 . 1987JAnEc..56..691B . 4 September 2021.
  8. Web site: MUSSELpdb family Margaritiferidae . 2022-10-28 . mussel-project.uwsp.edu.

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