Bivalvia | Unionida | Unionoidea | Unionidae | Ambleminae | Lampsilini | Potamilus

species Potamilus fragilis (Rafinesque, 1820): synonymy

7 specimens + 21 GenBank vouchers

Synonymy

image of type lot

Unio (Leptodea) fragilis Rafinesque, 1820

Rafinesque, 1818. Amer. Mon. Mag. 3: 355 [‘Potamilus fragilis’]. [nomen nudum]
Rafinesque, 1820. Ann. Gén. Sci. Phys. 5 (13): 295 [also as ‘Elliptio fragilis’].
Rafinesque, 1864. [in] Binney & Tryon, reprint: 22, 41.
LECTOTYPE ANSP_20209, creeks, Kentucky.

Lampsilis fragilis — Vanatta (1915)
Lasmonos fragilis — Utterback (1916)
Paraptera fragilis — Ortmann (1918)
Leptodea fragilis — Ortmann & Walker (1922), Ortmann (1924), Ortmann (1925), F.C. Baker (1928), Thiele (1934), ... Inoue et al. (2020), Klymus et al. (2020), Gasparini et al. (2020), Graf & Cummings (2021), Hauck et al. (2023)
Lampsilis (Leptodea) fragilis — Frierson (1927)
Potamilus fragilis — Smith et al. (2020), Johnson & Smith (2020), Smith & Johnson (2020), FMCS (2021), Keogh et al. (2021), de Moulpied et al. (2022), Hopper et al. (2023), FMCS (2025), Campbell & Lydeard (2026)

Unio (Leptodea) fragilis var. fuscata Rafinesque, 1820

(intro'd as intra-sp. of Unio (Leptodea) fragilis Rafinesque, 1820; homonym of Unio (Elliptio) viridis var. fuscata Rafinesque, 1820)
Rafinesque, 1820. Ann. Gén. Sci. Phys. 5 (13): 295.
Rafinesque, 1864. [in] Binney & Tryon, reprint: 41.

Unio gracilis Barnes, 1823

Barnes, 1823. Amer. J. Sci. 6 (1-2): 274 [‘174’].

Lampsilis (Proptera) gracilis — Simpson (1900), Ortmann (1909)
Unio (s.s.) gracilis — Call (1900)
Proptera gracilis — Ortmann (1909), Ortmann (1910), Haas (1969)
Paraptera gracilis — Ortmann (1912)
Lampsilis (Proptera) (Group of L. gracilis) gracilis — Simpson (1914)
Lampsilis fragilis — Vanatta (1915)
Lasmonos fragilis — Utterback (1916)
Paraptera fragilis — Ortmann (1918)
Leptodea fragilis — Ortmann & Walker (1922), Ortmann (1924), F.C. Baker (1928), Murray & Leonard (1962), Burch (1975), Oesch (1984), Vidrine (1993), Howells et al. (1996), Strayer & Jirka (1997), Williams et al. (2008), Watters et al. (2009)
Lampsilis (Leptodea) fragilis — Frierson (1927)

Unio fragilis ‘Rafinesque’ of Authors

(reference to Unio (Leptodea) fragilis Rafinesque, 1820)
‘Rafinesque’ of Authors.
Swainson, 1823. Zool. Illustr. 3(1): pl. 171.
Deshayes, 1832. Enc. Méth. 2 (Deuxième partie): 587.
Conrad, 1836. Monogr. Fam. Unionidae 1(6): 55, pl. 30.

Lampsilis (Proptera) gracilis — Simpson (1900)
Lampsilis (Proptera) (Group of L. gracilis) gracilis — Simpson (1914)
Lampsilis (Leptodea) fragilis — Frierson (1927)
Proptera gracilis — Haas (1969)

Unio planus Barnes, 1823

(homonym of Unio planus Studer, 1820)
Barnes, 1823. Amer. J. Sci. 6 (1-2): 272, pl. 13, fig. 16.

Lampsilis (Leptodea) leptodon — Frierson (1927)
Lampsilis (Leptodea) velum — Frierson (1927)
Proptera laevissima — Frierson (1927)
Leptodea fragilis — F.C. Baker (1928), Williams et al. (2008), Watters et al. (2009)
Proptera gracilis — Haas (1969)

Unio (Niaa) atrata Swainson, 1823

Swainson, 1823. Zool. Illustr. 3(1): pl. 171.

Lampsilis (Proptera) gracilis — Simpson (1900)
Lampsilis (Proptera) (Group of L. gracilis) gracilis — Simpson (1914)
Lampsilis (Leptodea) fragilis — Frierson (1927)
Leptodea fragilis — Parmalee & Bogan (1998), Williams et al. (2008), Watters et al. (2009)

Mya plana Eaton, 1826

(reference to Unio planus Barnes, 1823)
‘Barnes’ Eaton, 1826. Zool. Text-Book: 221.

Lampsilis (Proptera) gracilis — Simpson (1900)
Lampsilis (Proptera) (Group of L. gracilis) gracilis — Simpson (1914)
Leptodea fragilis — Parmalee & Bogan (1998), Watters et al. (2009)

Lasmonos fragilis Rafinesque, 1831

(homonym of Unio (Leptodea) fragilis Rafinesque, 1820)
Rafinesque, 1831. Continuation: 5.
Rafinesque, 1864. [in] Binney & Tryon, reprint: 81.

Lasmonos fragilis — Utterback (1916)
Leptodea leptodon — Ortmann & Walker (1922), Haas (1969), Oesch (1984)
Leptodea fragilis — Davis & Fuller (1981), Howells et al. (1996), Lydeard et al. (1996), Parmalee & Bogan (1998), Williams et al. (2008), Watters et al. (2009)

Unio leptodea var. planus Jay, 1850

(reference to Unio planus Barnes, 1823)
‘Barnes’ Jay, 1850. Cat. Rec. Shells: 61.

Leptodea fragilis — Parmalee & Bogan (1998), Watters et al. (2009)

Lampsilis simpsoni Ferriss, 1900

Ferriss, 1900. Nautilus 14: 38, text fig.

Lampsilis (Proptera) (Group of L. simpsoni) simpsoni — Simpson (1914)
Lasmonos simpsoni — Utterback (1916)
Lampsilis (Leptodea) fragilis-simpsoni — Frierson (1927)
Proptera gracilis — Haas (1969)
Leptodea fragilis — R.I. Johnson (1980), Parmalee & Bogan (1998), Williams et al. (2008), Watters et al. (2009)

image of type lot

Lampsilis gracilis lacustris F.C. Baker, 1922

(intro'd as intra-sp. of Unio gracilis Barnes, 1823)
F.C. Baker, 1922. Nautilus 35(4): 131.
F.C. Baker, 1928. Bull. Wisconsin Geol. Nat. Hist. Survey 70(2): 237, pl. 80, figs. 5-7; pl. 81, figs. 1-2.
HOLOTYPE (ORIG. DESIG.) UMMZ_209186, L. Butte de Morts, Wisc.

Leptodea fragilis lacustris — F.C. Baker (1928)
Leptodea fragilis — R.I. Johnson (1980), Strayer & Jirka (1997), Parmalee & Bogan (1998), Williams et al. (2008), Watters et al. (2009)

image of type lot

Medionidus mcglameriae van der Schalie, 1939

van der Schalie, 1939. Occ. Pap. Mus. Zool. Univ. Mich. (407): 1, pl. 1, figs. 1-3.
HOLOTYPE UMMZ_130460, Tombigbee River, Epes, Sumpter Co., Alabama.

Medionidus mcglameriae — Haas (1969), Burch (1975), R.I. Johnson (1977), Bogan (1993), Turgeon et al. (1998), Lydeard et al. (1999), IUCN (2000), Graf & Cummings (2007), Cummings & Graf (2010), ITIS (2012)
Medionidus macglameriae [sic] — Turgeon et al. (1988), Williams et al. (1993)
Leptodea fragilis — Williams et al. (2008), Bogan (2010), Williams et al. (2017), Graf & Cummings (2021)

Medionidus macglameriae ‘van der Schalie’ of Authors

(error for Medionidus mcglameriae van der Schalie, 1939)
‘van der Schalie’ of Authors.
Turgeon et al., 1988. Am. Fisher. Soc. Spec. Publ. (16): 31.
Williams et al., 1993. Fisheries 18(9): 13.

Medionidus mcglameriae — Turgeon et al. (1998)

Margarita (Unio) atratus Lea, 1836

(reference to Unio (Niaa) atrata Swainson, 1823)
‘Swain.’ Lea, 1836. Synopsis Fam. Naiades: 31.
Lea, 1852. Synopsis Fam. Naiades: 33.

Proptera gracilis — Haas (1969)

Unio plantus Williams et al., 2008

(error for Unio planus Barnes, 1823)
‘Barnes’ Williams et al., 2008. Freshw. Mussels AL and Mobile Basin: 419.

Taxonomic History (since 1900)

Lampsilis (Proptera) gracilis — Simpson (1900), Ortmann (1909)
Unio (s.s.) gracilis — Call (1900)
Proptera gracilis — Ortmann (1909), Ortmann (1910), Haas (1969)
Paraptera gracilis — Ortmann (1912)
Lampsilis (Proptera) (Group of L. gracilis) gracilis — Simpson (1914)
Lampsilis (Proptera) (Group of L. simpsoni) simpsoni — Simpson (1914)
Lampsilis fragilis — Vanatta (1915)
Lasmonos fragilis — Utterback (1916)
Lasmonos simpsoni — Utterback (1916)
Paraptera fragilis — Ortmann (1918)
Leptodea fragilis — Ortmann & Walker (1922), Ortmann (1924), Ortmann (1925), F.C. Baker (1928), Thiele (1934), ... Inoue et al. (2020), Klymus et al. (2020), Gasparini et al. (2020), Graf & Cummings (2021), Hauck et al. (2023)
Leptodea leptodon — Ortmann & Walker (1922), Haas (1969), Oesch (1984)
Lampsilis (Leptodea) leptodon — Frierson (1927)
Lampsilis (Leptodea) velum — Frierson (1927)
Lampsilis (Leptodea) fragilis — Frierson (1927)
Lampsilis (Leptodea) fragilis-simpsoni — Frierson (1927)
Proptera laevissima — Frierson (1927)
Leptodea fragilis lacustris — F.C. Baker (1928)
Medionidus mcglameriae — Haas (1969), Burch (1975), R.I. Johnson (1977), Bogan (1993), Turgeon et al. (1998), Lydeard et al. (1999), IUCN (2000), Graf & Cummings (2007), Cummings & Graf (2010), ITIS (2012)
Medionidus macglameriae [sic] — Turgeon et al. (1988), Williams et al. (1993)
Potamilus fragilis — Smith et al. (2020), Johnson & Smith (2020), Smith & Johnson (2020), FMCS (2021), Keogh et al. (2021), de Moulpied et al. (2022), Hopper et al. (2023), FMCS (2025), Campbell & Lydeard (2026)