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Data last updated
Mon 1 Dec 2025

genus Elliptio Rafinesque, 1819: synonymy

30 Recent freshwater species (45 total species)

Synonymy

Elliptio Rafinesque, 1819

Rafinesque, 1819. Jour. Phys. Chim. Hist. Nat. 88: 426.
Rafinesque, 1820. Ann. Gén. Sci. Phys. 5 (13): 291.
Rafinesque, 1864. [in] Binney & Tryon, reprint: 29, 37.
(intro'd as sub-gen. of Unio Retzius, 1788)
Type species: Unio (Elliptio) nigra Rafinesque, 1820 (sub. desig. by Ortmann, 1912: 266) = Elliptio crassidens

Cunicula Swainson, 1840

Swainson, 1840. Treat. Malacol.: 267-268, 274, 290, 378.
(intro'd as sub-gen. of Unio Retzius, 1788)
Type species: Unio purpurascens Lamarck, 1819 (sub. desig. by Herrmannsen, 1847: 335) = Elliptio complanata

Canthyria Swainson, 1840

Swainson, 1840. Treat. Malacol.: 276, 378.
(intro'd as sub-gen. of Aeglia Swainson, 1840)
Type species: Unio spinosus Lea, 1836 (orig. desig.) = Elliptio spinosa

Ellipto Meek, 1876

Meek, 1876. Rept. U.S. Geol. Surv. Terr. (Hayden) 9: 511.
(error for Elliptio Rafinesque, 1819)
Type species: Unio (Elliptio) nigra Rafinesque, 1820 = Elliptio crassidens

Ensinaia Starobogatov, 1970

Starobogatov, 1970. Fauna Moll. Continent.: 69, 287.
Type species: Unio shepardianus Lea, 1834 (orig. desig.) = Elliptio shepardiana

Elliptis Agassiz, 1845

‘Rafinesque’ Agassiz, 1845. Nom. Syst. Gen. Moll.: 33.
‘Rafin.’ Agassiz, 1846. Nomencl. Zool. Index Univ.: 136.
(error for Elliptio Rafinesque, 1819)
Type species: Unio (Elliptio) nigra Rafinesque, 1820 = Elliptio crassidens

Curricula Gray, 1847

‘Swains.’ Gray, 1847. Proc. Zool. Soc. London 15: 196.
(error for Cunicula Swainson, 1840)
Type species: Unio purpurascens Lamarck, 1819 = Elliptio complanata

Cinicula Heard & Guckert, 1970

‘Swainson’ Heard & Guckert, 1970. Malacologia 10: 348, note 18.
(error for Cunicula Swainson, 1840)
Type species: Unio purpurascens Lamarck, 1819 = Elliptio complanata

Taxonomic History (since 1900)

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

Unio (sec. Elliptio) — Simpson (1900), Simpson (1914)
Lampsilis (sec. Eurynia) — Simpson (1900)
Margaritana — Simpson (1900), Simpson (1914)
Unio (sec. Canthyria) — Simpson (1900), Simpson (1914)
Unio (sec. Uniomerus) — Simpson (1900)
Unio (Lampsilis) — Martens (1900)
Unio (s.s.) — Call (1900)
Unio — Simpson (1900), Ortmann (1909), Ortmann (1909), Ortmann (1909), Ortmann (1910), de Gregorio (1914), Vanatta (1915), Walker (1918), Henderson (1935), Branson (1935), Yen (1952), Good (2004)
Elliptio — Ortmann (1911), Ortmann (1912), Ortmann (1914), Utterback (1915), Ortmann (1918), ... MolluscaBase (2024), Wu et al. (2024), Dai et al. (2025), Chen et al. (2025), FMCS (2025)
Lampsilis (Eurynia) — Simpson (1914)
Elliptio (s.s.) — Frierson (1927), Haas (1930), Thiele (1934), Haas (1969), Haas (1969), R.I. Johnson (1970), R.I. Johnson (1972), Burch (1975)
Elliptio (Eurynaia [sic]) — Frierson (1927)
Elliptio (Uniomerus) — Frierson (1927)
Canthyria — Frierson (1927), Haas (1969), Haas (1969)
Quadrula (Fusconia [sic]) — Frierson (1927)
Lampsilis (Ligumia) — Frierson (1927)
Lampsilis (Ortmanniana) — Frierson (1927)
Elliptio (sec. Canthyria) — Thiele (1934)
Anodonta — Henderson (1935)
Eurynia — Modell (1957)
Margaritifera — Haas (1969), D.G. Smith (2001)
Fusconaia — Haas (1969), R.I. Johnson (1980)
Uniomerus — Haas (1969), R.I. Johnson (1970), R.I. Johnson (1972), Burch (1975), Brim Box & Williams (2000), Williams et al. (2008)
Elliptio (Eurynia) — Haas (1969)
Elliptio (Canthyria) — R.I. Johnson (1970), Burch (1975), Johnson & Clarke (1983)
Ensinaia — Starobogatov (1970)
Popenaias — Heard & Guckert (1970), Burch (1975), ITIS (2012)
“Unio” — Evanoff et al. (1998)
“L.” — Marshall et al. (2018)

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