Publication

Expansion and systematics redefinition of the most threatened freshwater mussel family, the Margaritiferidae

Bibliographic Details
Summary:	Two Unionida (freshwater mussel) families are present in the Northern Hemisphere; the Margaritiferidae, representing the most threatened of unionid families, and the Unionidae, which include several genera of unresolved taxonomic placement. The recent reassignment of the poorly studied Lamprotula rochechouartii from the Unionidae to the Margaritiferidae motivated a new search for other potential species of margaritiferids from members of Gibbosula and Lamprotula. Based on molecular and morphological analyses conducted on newly collected specimens from Vietnam, we here assign Gibbosula crassa to the Margaritiferidae. Additionally, we reanalyzed all diagnostic characteristics of the Margaritiferidae and examined museum specimens of Lamprotula and Gibbosula. As a result, two additional species are also moved to the Margaritiferidae, i.e. Gibbosula confragosa and Gibbosula polysticta. We performed a robust five marker phylogeny with all available margaritiferid species and discuss the taxonomy within the family. The present phylogeny reveals the division of Margaritiferidae into four ancient clades with distinct morphological, biogeographical and ecological characteristics that justify the division of the Margaritiferidae into two subfamilies (Gibbosulinae and Margaritiferinae) and four genera (Gibbosula, Cumberlandia, Margaritifera, and Pseudunio). The systematics of the Margaritiferidae family is redefined as well as their distribution, potential origin and main biogeographic patterns.
Main Authors:	Lopes-Lima, Manuel
Other Authors:	Bolotov, Ivan N.; Van Tu Do; Aldridge, David C.; Fonseca, Miguel M.; Gan, Han Ming; Gofarov, Mikhail Y.; Kondakov, Alexander V.; Prié, Vincent; Sousa, Ronaldo Gomes; Varandas, Simone; Vikhrev, Ilya V.; Teixeira, Amílcar; Wum, Rui-Wen; Wu, Xiaoping; Zieritz, Alexandra; Froufe, Elsa; Bogan, Arthur E.
Subject:	Unionida Margaritifera Lamprotula Gibbosula Phylogeny Bivalvia
Year:	2018
Country:	Portugal
Document type:	article
Access type:	open access
Associated institution:	Universidade do Minho
Language:	English
Origin:	RepositóriUM - Universidade do Minho

Description
Summary:	Two Unionida (freshwater mussel) families are present in the Northern Hemisphere; the Margaritiferidae, representing the most threatened of unionid families, and the Unionidae, which include several genera of unresolved taxonomic placement. The recent reassignment of the poorly studied Lamprotula rochechouartii from the Unionidae to the Margaritiferidae motivated a new search for other potential species of margaritiferids from members of Gibbosula and Lamprotula. Based on molecular and morphological analyses conducted on newly collected specimens from Vietnam, we here assign Gibbosula crassa to the Margaritiferidae. Additionally, we reanalyzed all diagnostic characteristics of the Margaritiferidae and examined museum specimens of Lamprotula and Gibbosula. As a result, two additional species are also moved to the Margaritiferidae, i.e. Gibbosula confragosa and Gibbosula polysticta. We performed a robust five marker phylogeny with all available margaritiferid species and discuss the taxonomy within the family. The present phylogeny reveals the division of Margaritiferidae into four ancient clades with distinct morphological, biogeographical and ecological characteristics that justify the division of the Margaritiferidae into two subfamilies (Gibbosulinae and Margaritiferinae) and four genera (Gibbosula, Cumberlandia, Margaritifera, and Pseudunio). The systematics of the Margaritiferidae family is redefined as well as their distribution, potential origin and main biogeographic patterns.