| Page last updated
9 May 2016 |
Mussel of the Month
The May 2016 Mussel of the Month is Iheringella semisulcata. Iheringella is a genus of two poorly known species in South America.
BMNH 1907.10.28.128. Eastern Peru; Bartlett! (type)
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Google Iheringella semisulcata and you will receive links to this web site, as well as to other online databases, that confirm that the species exists — or, more accurately, that confirm that the name exists and has been used for a species of freshwater mussel. There are also some links to some key works like Simpson (1900, 1914), Haas (1969), and Graf & Cummings (2007).
That Google search only turned up 5 pages of links, and we are responsible for almost the entirety of the first page! Conspicuously absent from that list is a link to Pereira et al. (2014). That paper is a recent comprehensive checklist of the freshwater mussels of South America. The word 'Iheringella' does not occur in their article. Did they omit it? Or has it been synonymized? The genus is so poorly known and so infrequently mentioned, it is easy to see how it could slip through the cracks. Until we know for sure, we will keep it on our list. |
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Classification:
Phylum Mollusca
Class Bivalvia
Subclass Palaeoheterodonta
Order Unionoida
Family MYCETOPODIDAE Gray, 1840
Subfamily MONOCONDYLAEINAE Modell, 1942
Genus Iheringella Pilsbry, 1893
Species Iheringella semisulcata (H. Adams, 1870) |
To find out more about Iheringella and South American freshwater mussels:
- Graf, D.L. & K.S. Cummings. 2007. Review of the systematics and global diversity of freshwater mussel species (Bivalvia: Unionoida). Journal of Molluscan Studies 73: 291-314.
- Haas, F. 1969. Superfamilia Unionacea. Das Tierreich 88: 1-663.
- Pereira, D., M.C.D. Mansur, L.D.S. Duarte, A.S. de Oliveira, D.M. Pimpão et al. 2014. Bivalve distribution in hydrographic regions in South America: historical overview and conservation. Hydrobiologia 735: 15-44.
- Simpson, C.T. 1900. Synopsis of the naiades, or pearly fresh-water mussels. Proceedings of the United Sttes National Museum 22: 501-1044.
- Simpson, C.T. 1914. A descriptive catalogue of the naiades, or pearly fresh-water mussels. Parts I-III: 1540 pp.
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