Afrotropics
 The Afrotropical Region is composed of Sub-Saharan Africa as well as the Nile Basin and Madagascar. The rest of northern Africa is considered to be part of North Eurasia. A total of 81 species (16 genera) are known from the Afrotropical Region, in three families: Unionidae, Iridinidae and Etheriidae.
Afrotropics are divided into six subregions based upon the distributions of the freshwater mussels. The Nile-Great Lakes Subregion (AF1; 7 gen, 26 spp.) extends from the Delta on the Mediterranean to the giant lakes Victoria, Albert and Edward. The Western Subregion (AF2; 7 gen, 18 spp.) includes the Niger, Chad-Chari, Senegal and other basins, and it has a mussel fauna that is quite similar to that of the Nile. The Congo Subregion (AF3; 13 gen, 36 spp.) includes not only the Congo Drainage but the watersheds south of the Niger and Chari basins. The freshwater mussel diversity of the Southern Subregion (AF4; 7 gen, 16 spp.) is highest in the Zambezi and decreases further south. The Eastern Subregion (AF5; 4 gen, 6 spp.) is composed of the coastal streams of eastern Africa and is relatively depauperate.
The Afrotropics also includes the Madagascar Subregion (AF6; 2 gen, 2 spp.) Historically, a few more species had been recognized from the Mascarene Islands, but those records have been shown to be dubius as best.
These tallies are based upon some of our own revisionary work. More information can be found on other web pages on this site. The freshwater mussels of Madagascar page reviews the available data on this poorly understood assemblage.
Endemic species are marked with an asterisk (*). Nile-Great Lakes Subregion (AF1)
Western Subregion (AF2)
Congo Subregion (AF3)
Southern Subregion (AF4)
Eastern Subregion (AF5)
Madagascar Subregion (AF6)
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