Description of Central America Region

Central American SubregionsThe region is inhabited by 66 species (20 genera) of freshwater mussels in two families: Unionidae and Mycetopodidae.

The sole subregion, Central America-Cuba (CA1; 20 gen., 66 spp., 60 endemic) includes Mexico south of the Rio Grande to the Isthmus of Panama, as well as the Caribbean island of Cuba. The fauna consists largely unioinid genera, and presumably those various lineages had their origins in North America, whereas the mycetopodids have extended north into the region from South America.

Freshwater mussels of the Subregion

Endemic species are marked with an asterisk (*).

Central America-Cuba (CA1)

  1. Actinonaias coyensis*
  2. Actinonaias gundlachi*
  3. Actinonaias medellina*
  4. Actinonaias sapotalensis*
  5. Actinonaias signata*
  6. Anodontites cylindracea*
  7. Anodontites jaliscoensis*
  8. Anodontites lurulenta*
  9. Anodontites montezuma*
  10. Anodontites tehuantepecensis
  11. Anodontites tortilis
  12. Anodontites trapesialis
  13. Arotonaias cyrenoides*
  14. Arotonaias encarpa*
  15. Arotonaias gabbiana*
  16. Arotonaias reticulata*
  17. Brachyanodon impura*
  18. Delphinonaias largillierti*
  19. Delphinonaias scutulata*
  20. Disconaias disca*
  21. Disconaias fimbriata*
  22. Friersonia iridella*
  23. Megalonaias nickliniana*
  24. Mesonaias explicata*
  25. Mesonaias tampicoensis*
  26. Mesonaias umbrosa*
  27. Micronaias arata*
  28. Micronaias fallaciosa*
  29. Micronaias granadensis*
  30. Mycetopoda subsinuata
  31. Nephritica haricotti*
  32. Nephritica poeyana*
  33. Nephronaias aeruginosa*
  1. Nephronaias aztecorum*
  2. Nephronaias calamitarum*
  3. Nephronaias caldwellii*
  4. Nephronaias chapalanus*
  5. Nephronaias copanensis*
  6. Nephronaias dysonii*
  7. Nephronaias flucki*
  8. Nephronaias goascoranensis*
  9. Nephronaias hjalmarsoni*
  10. Nephronaias macnielii*
  11. Nephronaias ortmanni*
  12. Nephronaias ravistella*
  13. Nephronaias rowellii*
  14. Nephronaias sallei*
  15. Nephronaias scamnata*
  16. Nephronaias tehuantepecensis*
  17. Nephronaias tempisquensis*
  18. Nephronaias yzabalensis*
  19. Pachynaias spheniopsis*
  20. Popenaias berezai*
  21. Popenaias metallica*
  22. Popenaias semirasa*
  23. Psoronaias crocodilorum*
  24. Psoronaias distincta*
  25. Psoronaias guatemalensis*
  26. Psoronaias rubicunda*
  27. Psoronaias semigranosa*
  28. Pyganodon globosa*
  29. Sinanodonta pacifica
  30. Sphenonaias liebmanni*
  31. Sphenonaias opacata*
  32. Sphenonaias plexus*
  33. Utterbackia imbecillis