MUSSELpdb | valid gen. Potamilus synonymy

	Home \| About \| Database \| Mussel of the Month \| Publications & Presentations


MUSSELpdb
	Introduction Browse d'basing


Taxonomy
	all genera Unionidae Margaritiferidae Hyriidae Etheriidae Mycetopodidae Iridinidae Species & Genus Richness by Taxonomy


Geography
	Summary North America Central America South America Afrotropics North Eurasia East Asia Australasia Species Richness & Endemism by Geography

Page last updated
Thu 3 September 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!

Search the database pages:

genus Potamilus Rafinesque, 1818: synonymy
10 Recent valid species (11 total species)

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)

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)

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)

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)

Monelasmus Agassiz, 1846
Agassiz, 1846. Nomencl. Zool. Index Univ.: 237.
(new name for Lasmonos Rafinesque, 1831)

Stenelasma Herrmannsen, 1849
Herrmannsen, 1849. Ind. Gener. Malacol. 2: 502.
(new name for Lastena Rafinesque, 1820)

Symphionota Philippi, 1853
Philippi, 1853. Handb. Conch. Mal.: 450, 492.
(error for Symphynota Lea, 1829)

Lastenes Chenu, 1859
Desmarest in Chenu, 1859. Encycl. Hist. Nat., Crust. Moll. Zooph. 4: 212.
(error for Lastena Rafinesque, 1820)

Noidea Schaufuss, 1869
Schaufuss, 1869. Moll. Syst. Cat. Paetel 7: ix, 21.
(error for Naidea Swainson, 1840)

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)

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)

Metaphera Rafinesque, 1820
Rafinesque, 1820. Ann. Gén. Sci. Phys. 5 (13): ??.
(error for Metaptera Rafinesque, 1820)

Lostena Gray, 1847
‘Rafinesque’ Gray, 1847. Proc. Zool. Soc. London 15: 196.
(error for Lastena Rafinesque, 1820)

Monelagmus Paetel, 1875
‘Agas.’ Paetel, 1875. Fam. Gatt. Moll.: 127.
(error for Monelasmus Agassiz, 1846)

Pareptera Frierson, 1914
‘Ortmann’ Frierson, 1914. Nautilus 28: 7.
(error for Paraptera Ortmann, 1911)

Symphinodonta Korniushin, 1998
Korniushin, 1998. Malac. Review Bivalvia 7: 78.
(error for Symphynota Lea, 1829)

Potamilis Contreras-Arquieta, 2000
‘Rafinesque’ Contreras-Arquieta, 2000. Mexicoa 2(1): 44.
(error for Potamilus Rafinesque, 1818)

Taxonomic History (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)

"Making the world a better place, one mollusk at a time."
	The MUSSEL Project — Home Page https://musselpdb.org/. Site developed and maintained by Dan Graf & Kevin Cummings. Funded by The National Science Foundation.