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Mon 1 Dec 2025

genus Potamilus Rafinesque, 1818: synonymy

10 Recent freshwater species (11 total species)

Synonymy

Potamila Rafinesque, 1818

Rafinesque, 1818. Amer. Mon. Mag. 4: 107.
Rafinesque, 1820. Ann. Gén. Sci. Phys. 5 (13): 288.
Rafinesque, 1864. [in] Binney & Tryon, reprint: 24, 35.
(error for Potamilus Rafinesque, 1818)
Type species: Unio alatus Say, 1817 = Potamilus alatus

Potamilus Rafinesque, 1818

Rafinesque, 1818. Amer. Mon. Mag. 3: 355.
Rafinesque, 1864. [in] Binney & Tryon, reprint: 22.
Type species: Unio alatus Say, 1817 (sub. desig. by Morrison, 1969: 24) = Potamilus alatus

Proptera Rafinesque, 1819

Rafinesque, 1819. Jour. Phys. Chim. Hist. Nat. 88: 426.
Rafinesque, 1864. [in] Binney & Tryon, reprint: 29.
(intro'd as sub-gen. of Unio Retzius, 1788; renamed Metaptera Rafinesque, 1820)
Type species: Unio alatus Say, 1817 = Potamilus alatus

Leptodea Rafinesque, 1820

Rafinesque, 1820. Ann. Gén. Sci. Phys. 5 (13): 295.
Rafinesque, 1864. [in] Binney & Tryon, reprint: 40.
(intro'd as sub-gen. of Unio Retzius, 1788)
Type species: Unio (Leptodea) fragilis Rafinesque, 1820 (sub. desig. by Herrmannsen, 1847: 584) = Potamilus fragilis

Metaptera Rafinesque, 1820

Rafinesque, 1820. Ann. Gén. Sci. Phys. 5 (13): 299.
Rafinesque, 1864. [in] Binney & Tryon, reprint: 44.
(new name for Proptera Rafinesque, 1819)
Type species: Unio alatus Say, 1817 (sub. desig. by Herrmannsen, 1847: 41) = Potamilus alatus

Lastena Rafinesque, 1820

Rafinesque, 1820. Ann. Gén. Sci. Phys. 5 (13): 316.
Rafinesque, 1864. [in] Binney & Tryon, reprint: 59.
(intro'd as sub-gen. of Anodonta Lamarck, 1799; renamed Stenelasma Herrmannsen, 1849)
Type species: Anodonta (Lastena) ohiensis Rafinesque, 1820 (sub. desig. by Herrmannsen, 1847: 577, 58) = Potamilus ohiensis

Symphynota Lea, 1829

Lea, 1829. Trans. Amer. Phil. Soc. 3 [O. 1]: 424, 442 [38].
Type species: Unio alatus Say, 1817 (orig. desig.) = Potamilus alatus

Lasmonos Rafinesque, 1831

Rafinesque, 1831. Continuation: 5.
Rafinesque, 1864. [in] Binney & Tryon, reprint: 81.
(renamed Monelasmus Agassiz, 1846)
Type species: Lasmonos fragilis Rafinesque, 1831 (orig. desig.) = Potamilus fragilis

Symphonota Rafinesque, 1831

‘Lea’ of Authors.
Rafinesque, 1831. Continuation: 7.
Berge, 1847. Conch.-Buch: 69.
Gray, 1847. Proc. Zool. Soc. London 15: 196.
Rafinesque, 1864. [in] Binney & Tryon, reprint: 85.
(error for Symphynota Lea, 1829)
Type species: Unio alatus Say, 1817 = Potamilus alatus

Naidea Swainson, 1840

Swainson, 1840. Treat. Malacol.: 276, 378.
(intro'd as sub-gen. of Aeglia Swainson, 1840)
Type species: Unio ater Lea, 1829 (monotypy) = Potamilus purpuratus

Symphinota Villa, 1841

‘Lea’ of Authors.
Villa, 1841. Dispos. Syst. Conchyl.: 43.
Haas, 1969. Das Tierreich 88: 415.
Haas, 1969. Treatise on Invert. Paleo: N448.
(error for Symphynota Lea, 1829)
Type species: Unio alatus Say, 1817 = Potamilus alatus

Monelasmus Agassiz, 1846

Agassiz, 1846. Nomencl. Zool. Index Univ.: 237.
(new name for Lasmonos Rafinesque, 1831)
Type species: Lasmonos fragilis Rafinesque, 1831 = Potamilus fragilis

Stenelasma Herrmannsen, 1849

Herrmannsen, 1849. Ind. Gener. Malacol. 2: 502.
(new name for Lastena Rafinesque, 1820)
Type species: Anodonta (Lastena) ohiensis Rafinesque, 1820 = Potamilus ohiensis

Symphionota Philippi, 1853

Philippi, 1853. Handb. Conch. Mal.: 450, 492.
(error for Symphynota Lea, 1829)
Type species: Unio alatus Say, 1817 = Potamilus alatus

Lastenes Chenu, 1859

Desmarest in Chenu, 1859. Encycl. Hist. Nat., Crust. Moll. Zooph. 4: 212.
(error for Lastena Rafinesque, 1820)
Type species: Anodonta (Lastena) ohiensis Rafinesque, 1820 = Potamilus ohiensis

Noidea Schaufuss, 1869

Schaufuss, 1869. Moll. Syst. Cat. Paetel 7: ix, 21.
(error for Naidea Swainson, 1840)
Type species: Unio ater Lea, 1829 = Potamilus purpuratus

Paraptera Ortmann, 1911

Ortmann, 1911. Mem. Carnegie Mus. 4: 301.
Ortmann, 1912. Ann. Carnegie Mus. 8: 330.
Type species: Unio gracilis Barnes, 1823 (orig. desig.) = Potamilus fragilis

Symphanota Preston, 1916

Preston, 1916. Zool. Rec. 51: 66.
(error for Symphynota Lea, 1829)
Type species: Unio alatus Say, 1817 = Potamilus alatus

Megaptera Modell, 1964

‘Rafinesque’ of Authors.
‘Rafinesque’ Modell, 1964. Arch. Moll. 93: 85.
‘Rafinesque’ Haas, 1969. Treatise on Invert. Paleo: N455.
(error for Metaptera Rafinesque, 1820)
Type species: Unio alatus Say, 1817 = Potamilus alatus

Metaphera Rafinesque, 1820

Rafinesque, 1820. Ann. Gén. Sci. Phys. 5 (13): ??.
(error for Metaptera Rafinesque, 1820)
Type species: Unio alatus Say, 1817 = Potamilus alatus

Lostena Gray, 1847

‘Rafinesque’ Gray, 1847. Proc. Zool. Soc. London 15: 196.
(error for Lastena Rafinesque, 1820)
Type species: Anodonta (Lastena) ohiensis Rafinesque, 1820 = Potamilus ohiensis

Monelagmus Paetel, 1875

‘Agas.’ Paetel, 1875. Fam. Gatt. Moll.: 127.
(error for Monelasmus Agassiz, 1846)
Type species: Lasmonos fragilis Rafinesque, 1831 = Potamilus fragilis

Pareptera Frierson, 1914

‘Ortmann’ Frierson, 1914. Nautilus 28: 7.
(error for Paraptera Ortmann, 1911)
Type species: Unio gracilis Barnes, 1823 = Potamilus fragilis

Symphinodonta Korniushin, 1998

Korniushin, 1998. Malac. Review Bivalvia 7: 78.
(error for Symphynota Lea, 1829)
Type species: Unio alatus Say, 1817 = Potamilus alatus

Potamilis Contreras-Arquieta, 2000

‘Rafinesque’ Contreras-Arquieta, 2000. Mexicoa 2(1): 44.
(error for Potamilus Rafinesque, 1818)
Type species: Unio alatus Say, 1817 = Potamilus alatus

Taxonomic History (since 1900)

The Taxonomic History lists the ways authors have classified the species currently assigned to Potamilus, since 1900.

Lampsilis (Proptera) — Simpson (1900), Ortmann (1909), Simpson (1914)
Lampsilis (s.s.) — Simpson (1900), Simpson (1914), Frierson (1927)
Anodonta — Simpson (1900), Simpson (1914), Thiele (1934)
Unio (s.s.) — Call (1900)
Proptera — Ortmann (1909), Ortmann (1909), Ortmann (1910), Ortmann (1912), Ortmann (1914), ... R.I. Johnson (1980), Mackie et al. (1980), Davis & Fuller (1981), Contreras-Arquieta (2000), ITIS (2012)
Paraptera — Ortmann (1912), Ortmann (1918)
Unio — de Gregorio (1914), Henderson (1935)
Unio (Symphynota) — de Gregorio (1914)
Lastena — Utterback (1915), Modell (1945)
Lampsilis — Vanatta (1915)
Lasmonos — Utterback (1916), Utterback (1916)
Leptodea — Ortmann & Walker (1922), Ortmann (1924), Ortmann (1925), F.C. Baker (1928), Thiele (1934), ... Gasparini et al. (2020), Graf & Cummings (2021), Wu et al. (2021), Hauck et al. (2023), Chen et al. (2025)
Anodonta (Lastena) — Frierson (1927), Haas (1969)
Lampsilis (Leptodea) — Frierson (1927)
Medionidus — Haas (1969), Burch (1975), R.I. Johnson (1977), Turgeon et al. (1988), Williams et al. (1993), Bogan (1993), Turgeon et al. (1998), Lydeard et al. (1999), IUCN (2000), Graf & Cummings (2007), Cummings & Graf (2010), ITIS (2012)
Potamilus — Morrison (1969), Oesch (1984), Turgeon et al. (1988), Cummings & Mayer (1992), Williams et al. (1993), ... Ma et al. (2024), Dai et al. (2025), Chen et al. (2025), FMCS (2025), Cummings et al. (2025)
Anodonta (Utterbackia) — R.I. Johnson (1970)
Potamilis [sic] — Contreras-Arquieta (2000)

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