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]
| Margaritiferidae Temporal range: Middle Jurassic - present,
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| Separated valves of a shell of Margaritifera margaritifera | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Bivalvia |
| Order: | Unionida |
| Superfamily: | Unionoidea |
| Family: | Margaritiferidae Haas, 1940 |
| Genera | |
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See text for genera | |
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
editA 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.[3]
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.[3]
Genera
editGenera within the family Margaritiferidae include:[8]
Subfamily Margaritiferinae
edit- Cumberlandia Ortmann, 1912
- Margaritifera Schumacher, 1815
- Pseudunio Haas, 1910
Subfamily Gibbosulinae
edit- Gibbosula Simpson, 1900
Fossil genera
editSeveral fossil genera are known, dating back to the Middle Jurassic:[3]
- †Palaeomargaritifera Ma, 1984 (Middle Jurassic of Sichuan, China)
- Subfamily Margaretiferinae
- †Asturianaia Van Damme & Bogan, 2015 (Middle to Late Jurassic of Niger and Spain)
- †“Margaritifera” crosthwaitei (Newton, 1909) (Late Jurassic of Egypt)
- †Paraheudeana (Early Cretaceous of Spain)
References
edit- ^ Margaritiferidae Henderson, 1929 (1910). Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species on 4 January 2012.
Text may have been copied from this source, which is available under a Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.
- ^ 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. Hackenheim: ConchBooks. pp. 901 pp. + CD. ISBN 978-3-939767-28-2.
- ^ a b c d Manuel Lopes-Lima; et al. (1 October 2018). "Expansion and systematics redefinition of the most threatened freshwater mussel family, the Margaritiferidae". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 127: 98–118. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2018.04.041. hdl:1822/72343. ISSN 1055-7903. PMID 29729933. S2CID 24130614. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
- ^ Bolotov, Ivan N.; Bespalaya, Yulia V.; et al. (26 May 2015). Colgan, Donald James (ed.). "Taxonomy and Distribution of Freshwater Pearl Mussels (Unionoida: Margaritiferidae) of the Russian Far East". PLOS ONE. 10 (5). Public Library of Science (PLoS): e0122408. Bibcode:2015PLoSO..1022408B. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0122408. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 4444039. PMID 26011762.
- ^ Mitchell, Daniel (2010). "Margaritifera margaritifera". Animal Diversity Web. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
- ^ Popov, Igor (2020). "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. 30 (9). Wiley: 1816–1820. Bibcode:2020ACMFE..30.1816P. doi:10.1002/aqc.3342. ISSN 1052-7613.
- ^ Bauer, G. (1987). "Reproductive Strategy of the Freshwater Pearl Mussel Margaritifera margaritifera". Journal of Animal Ecology. 56 (2). Wiley, British Ecological Society: 691–704. Bibcode:1987JAnEc..56..691B. doi:10.2307/5077. ISSN 1365-2656. JSTOR 5077. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
- ^ "MUSSELpdb | family Margaritiferidae". mussel-project.uwsp.edu. Retrieved 2022-10-28.
