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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!

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Bivalvia | ... | Unionoidea | Unionidae | Unioninae | Anodontini | Alasmidontina | Utterbackia

species Utterbackia imbecillis (Say, 1829): synonymy
     47 specimens + 1 Genbank voucher

Anodonta imbecillis Say, 1829
Say, 1829. New Harm. Dissem. 2(23): 355, sp. 5.
Type(s): UNKNOWN SMF_4301, N. Amerika.

Anodonta imbecillisSimpson (1900), Ortmann (1909), Ortmann (1909), Ortmann (1910), Ortmann (1912), ... Turgeon et al. (1988), Rosenberg et al. (1994), Howells et al. (1996), Contreras-Arquieta (2000), ITIS (2012)
Unio (Anodonta) imbecillisCall (1900)
Lastena ohiensisUtterback (1915)
Anodonta (Lastena) ohiensisFrierson (1927), Haas (1969)
Utterbackia imbecillisF.C. Baker (1927), F.C. Baker (1928), Cummings & Mayer (1992), Williams et al. (1993), Vidrine (1993), ... Hou et al. (2025), Wang et al. (2025), Campbell & Lydeard (2026), Wu et al. (2026), Wu et al. (2026)
Anodonta (Lastena) imbecillisHaas (1930)
Anodonta imbecilis [sic]Clench & Turner (1956), Murray & Leonard (1962), Burch (1975), Rosenberg et al. (1997), Adamkewicz et al. (1997)
Anodonta (Utterbackia) imbecilis [sic]R.I. Johnson (1970), Heard (1975), Kat (1983)
Utterbackia imbecilis [sic]Hoeh (1990), Lydeard et al. (1996)
Anodonta (Utterbackia) imbecillisR.I. Johnson (1999)
U. imbecillisMarshall et al. (2018)

Anodonta incerta Lea, 1834
Lea, 1834. Trans. Amer. Phil. Soc. 5 [O. 1]: 46, pl. 6, fig. 16.

Anodonta imbecillisSimpson (1900), Simpson (1914)
Anodonta incertade Gregorio (1914)
Anodonta (Lastena) ohiensisFrierson (1927), Haas (1969)
Anodonta (Utterbackia) imbecilis [sic]R.I. Johnson (1970)
Anodonta imbecilis [sic]Burch (1975)
Utterbackia imbecillisParmalee & Bogan (1998), Brim Box & Williams (2000), Williams et al. (2008), Watters et al. (2009)

Anodonta imbecilis Lea, 1836
‘Say’ of Authors.
Lea, 1836. Synopsis Fam. Naiades: 54.
Conrad, 1853. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. 6: 264.
Adams & Adams, 1857. Gen. Rec. Moll. 2(31-32): 502.
Say, 1858. [in] Binney, Compl. Writings T. Say: 140.
Lapham, 1860. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. 12: 156.
B.H. Wright, 1888. Check List N. Amer. Unionidae etc.: [7].
Pilsbry & Rhoads, 1896. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. 48: 506.
Clench & Turner, 1956. Bull. Fla. State Mus. 1: 187.
Murray & Leonard, 1962. Handbk. Unionid Muss. Kansas: 95.
R.I. Johnson, 1970. Bull. MCZ 140(6): 362.
Heard, 1975. Malacologia 15(1): 84.
Kat, 1983. Malacologia 23(2): 362.
Hoeh, 1990. Malac. Review 23: 63.
Lydeard et al., 1996. Philos. Trans. Roy. Soc. London (B, Biol. Sci.) 351: 1595.
Rosenberg et al., 1997. J. Moll. Studies 63: 303.
Adamkewicz et al., 1997. MBE 14(6): 622.
(error for Anodonta imbecillis Say, 1829)

Anodonta imbecillisOrtmann & Walker (1922)
Utterbackia imbecillisWatters et al. (2009)

Anodon horda Gould, 1855
Gould, 1855. Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist. 5: 229.
Type(s): LECTOTYPE BMNH_196465 (by R.I. Johnson, 1964: 88), Comanche Creek, Texas.

Anodonta imbecillisSimpson (1900), Simpson (1914), Howells et al. (1996)
Anodonta (Lastena) ohiensis-hordaFrierson (1927)
Anodonta (Lastena) ohiensisHaas (1969)
Anodonta (Utterbackia) imbecilis [sic]R.I. Johnson (1970)
Anodonta imbecilis [sic]Burch (1975)
Utterbackia imbecillisParmalee & Bogan (1998), Brim Box & Williams (2000), Williams et al. (2008), Watters et al. (2009), Cummings et al. (2025)
Anodonta hordaContreras-Arquieta (2000)

Anodonta henryana Lea, 1857
Lea, 1857. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. 9: 102 [as ‘henryiana’].
Lea, 1860. Jour. Acad. Nat. Sci. 4 [O. 8]: 373 [55], pl. 66, fig. 198.
(error for Anodonta henryiana Lea, 1857)
Type(s): LECTOTYPE USNM_86692 (by R.I. Johnson, 1974: 69), Matamoras, Mexico.

Anodonta henryanaSimpson (1900), Ortmann (1912), Simpson (1914), Heard (1975), Contreras-Arquieta (2000)
Anodonta (s.s.) henryanaMartens (1900)
Anodonta (Lastena) ohiensisFrierson (1927), Haas (1969)
Utterbackia henryanaF.C. Baker (1927)
Anodonta (Utterbackia) imbecilis [sic]R.I. Johnson (1970)
Anodonta imbecilis [sic]Burch (1975)
Utterbackia imbecillisBieler (2021), Cummings et al. (2025)

Anodonta henryiana Lea, 1857
Lea, 1857. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. 9: 102.

Anodonta henryanaSimpson (1900), Simpson (1914)
Anodonta (Lastena) ohiensisHaas (1969)
Utterbackia imbecillisBrim Box & Williams (2000), Watters et al. (2009), Bieler (2021)

Anodonta phalena de Gregorio, 1914
de Gregorio, 1914. Il Nat. Siciliano 2: 64, pl. 11, figs. 3a-e.

Anodonta phalenade Gregorio (1914)
Utterbackia imbecillisWilliams et al. (2008), Watters et al. (2009)

Anodonta ohiensis Utterback, 1915
‘Rafinesque’ of Authors.
Utterback, 1915. Amer. Midl. Nat. 4(6): 260, pl. 23, figs. 74a-b.
Ortmann, 1919. Mem. Carnegie Mus. 8(1): 162, pl. 11, fig. 4.
Thiele, 1934. Handb. Syst. Weichtierk. 3: 832 [1267].
Modell, 1945. Jena. Z. Med. Naturw. 78: 84.
(misidentified reference to Anodonta (Lastena) ohiensis Rafinesque, 1820)

Anodonta imbecillisOrtmann & Walker (1922), R.I. Johnson (1980)
Utterbackia imbecillisF.C. Baker (1928), Vidrine (1993), Parmalee & Bogan (1998), Watters et al. (2009)

Utterbackia imbecillis fusca F.C. Baker, 1927
F.C. Baker, 1927. Amer. Midl. Nat. 10(7): 222.
F.C. Baker, 1928. Bull. Wisconsin Geol. Nat. Hist. Survey 70(2): 175, pl. 103, figs. 12-14.
(intro'd as intra-sp. of Anodonta imbecillis Say, 1829)
Type(s): HOLOTYPE (ORIG. DESIG.) UMMZ_209141, Sturgeon Bay, Wisc.

Utterbackia imbecillis fuscaF.C. Baker (1927), F.C. Baker (1928)
Anodonta (Utterbackia) imbecilis [sic]R.I. Johnson (1970)
Anodonta imbecillisR.I. Johnson (1980)
Utterbackia imbecillisParmalee & Bogan (1998), Williams et al. (2008), Watters et al. (2009)

Anodonta hordeum Paetel, 1890
‘Sow.’ Paetel, 1890. Cat. Conch.-Samml. 3: 180.
(error for Anodon horda Gould, 1855)

Anodonta imbecillisSimpson (1900), Simpson (1914)
Anodonta (Lastena) ohiensisHaas (1969)
Utterbackia imbecillisParmalee & Bogan (1998), Watters et al. (2009)

Anodonta hordea Call, 1895
‘Gould’ Call, 1895. Trans. Acad. Sci. St. Louis 7: 63.
(error for Anodon horda Gould, 1855)

Taxonomic History (since 1900)

Anodonta imbecillisSimpson (1900), Ortmann (1909), Ortmann (1909), Ortmann (1910), Ortmann (1912), ... Turgeon et al. (1988), Rosenberg et al. (1994), Howells et al. (1996), Contreras-Arquieta (2000), ITIS (2012)
Unio (Anodonta) imbecillisCall (1900)
Anodonta henryanaSimpson (1900), Ortmann (1912), Simpson (1914), Heard (1975), Contreras-Arquieta (2000)
Anodonta (s.s.) henryanaMartens (1900)
Anodonta incertade Gregorio (1914)
Anodonta phalenade Gregorio (1914)
Lastena ohiensisUtterback (1915)
Anodonta (Lastena) ohiensisFrierson (1927), Haas (1969)
Utterbackia imbecillisF.C. Baker (1927), F.C. Baker (1928), Cummings & Mayer (1992), Williams et al. (1993), Vidrine (1993), ... Hou et al. (2025), Wang et al. (2025), Campbell & Lydeard (2026), Wu et al. (2026), Wu et al. (2026)
Anodonta (Lastena) ohiensis-hordaFrierson (1927)
Utterbackia henryanaF.C. Baker (1927)
Utterbackia imbecillis fuscaF.C. Baker (1927), F.C. Baker (1928)
Anodonta (Lastena) imbecillisHaas (1930)
Anodonta imbecilis [sic]Clench & Turner (1956), Murray & Leonard (1962), Burch (1975), Rosenberg et al. (1997), Adamkewicz et al. (1997)
Anodonta (Utterbackia) imbecilis [sic]R.I. Johnson (1970), Heard (1975), Kat (1983)
Utterbackia imbecilis [sic]Hoeh (1990), Lydeard et al. (1996)
Anodonta (Utterbackia) imbecillisR.I. Johnson (1999)
Anodonta hordaContreras-Arquieta (2000)
U. imbecillisMarshall et al. (2018)

 
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