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Species Richness & Endemism by Geography
 
 

Page last updated
Wed 1 October 2025

The Freshwater Mussels (Unionoida) of the World (and other less consequential bivalves)

FM(U)otW(aolcb) is the web version of the MUSSEL Project Database. Follow the links to browse the data or use the custom Google search field. Either way, you win!

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North Eurasia

North Eurasian Subregions

North Eurasia extends from the British and Irish Isles and northern Africa to Siberia. We currently recognize only 47 species (10 genera) from that whole region. However, as we have discussed elsewhere, malacologists using the Comparatory Method have estimated a significantly higher diversity. The North Eurasian assemblage is represented by two families: Unionidae and Margaritiferidae.

North Eurasia is divided among three subregions. The Europe-Maghreb Subregion (EU1; 8 gen., 35 spp., 27 endemic) extends from the Atlantic to the Ural Mountains, including northern Africa. The Tigris-Euphrates Subregion (EU2; 7 gen., 16 spp., 11 endemic) is composed of the streams of the Levant and the large rivers draining to the Persian Gulf. The large, relatively depauperate internal basins of Central Asia and middle Russia form the Central Subregion (EU3; 2 gen., 3 spp., 0 endemic).

Endemic species are marked with an asterisk (*).

Europe-Maghreb (EU1)
  1. Anodonta anatina
  2. Anodonta cygnea*
  3. Anodonta exulcerata*
  4. Anodonta seddonae*
  5. Margaritifera margaritifera
  6. Microcondylaea bonellii*
  7. Potomida acarnanica*
  8. Potomida littoralis*
  9. Pseudanodonta complanata*
  10. Pseudunio auricularius*
  11. Pseudunio marocanus*
  12. Sinanodonta lauta
  13. Sinanodonta woodiana
  14. Unio bruguierianus*
  15. Unio carneus*
  16. Unio crassus*
  17. Unio damascensis
  18. Unio delicatus
  1. Unio delphinus*
  2. Unio desectus*
  3. Unio durieui*
  4. Unio elongatulus*
  5. Unio eucirrus*
  6. Unio foucauldianus*
  7. Unio gibbus*
  8. Unio gontierii*
  9. Unio ionicus*
  10. Unio mancus*
  11. Unio nanus*
  12. Unio pictorum
  13. Unio ravoisieri*
  14. Unio sesirmensis*
  15. Unio tumidiformis*
  16. Unio tumidus
  17. Unio vicarius*
Tigris-Euphrates (EU2)
  1. Anodonta anatina
  2. Anodonta vescoiana*
  3. Leguminaia anatolica*
  4. Leguminaia saulcyi*
  5. Leguminaia wheatleyi*
  6. Potomida semirugata*
  7. Pseudodontopsis euphratica*
  8. Pseudunio homsensis*
  1. Sinanodonta lauta
  2. Sinanodonta pacifica
  3. Unio damascensis
  4. Unio delicatus
  5. Unio hueti*
  6. Unio mardinensis*
  7. Unio terminalis*
  8. Unio tigridis*
Central Asia (EU3)
  1. Anodonta anatina
  2. Sinanodonta lauta
  1. Sinanodonta woodiana
 
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