The MUSSEL Project Home Page

The MUSSELp is the MUSSEL Project, an internet resource to support research on the systematics of freshwater mussels (and other bivalves).

The MUSSELpdb is the MUSSEL Project Database, providing current information on the the taxonomy, nomenclature, literature, specimens, phylogeny, and other data supporting research on freshwater mussel evolution and ecology.

MUSSELp

Browse the MUSSELp Database!
The Freshwater Mussels (Unionoida) of the World
(and other less consequential bivalves)

Search the MUSSEL Project Web Site:

The searching function is handled by a Google Custom Search Engine.

Mutela dubiaThe December 2025 Mussel of the Month is Mutela dubia. Mutela dubia (Iridinidae) from Africa, like so many freshwater mussels, has been “super-nominated.”

Our Mussel of the Month, Mutela dubia (Gmelin, 1791), has been formally described 26 times. Sorting through species names is exactly the sort of problem for which the MUSSEL Project was started.

Visit the Mussel of the Month Archive.

The MUSSEL Project Database Dashboard

The MUSSELpdb-db is a quick summary of the current state of freshwater mussel species & genus richness, according to the MUSSEL Project Database (the MUSSELpdb).
Current Number of Freshwater Mussel Species:

999

Current Number of Freshwater Mussel Genera:

217

Last Updated
Mon 1 December 2025

 Graph of freshwater mussel species richness by family, according to the MUSSELpdb


Click here for a detailed summary of species and genus richness by taxonomy.

Graph of freshwater mussel species richness by region, according to the MUSSELpdb
Click here for a detailed summary of species richness and endemism by geography.

Changes in the numberof species and genera since 2007, according to the MUSSELpdb
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"Making the world a better place, one mollusk at a time."