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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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Updated Table 4: Species richness and subregional endemism by geography and family

This page summarizes the current data on the richness and endemism of freshwater mussel species in each biographical region and subregion, broken down by family.

These data update Table 4 of Graf & Cummings (2021).

Numbers within parentheses indicate the richness of endemic species in each subregion. Family abbreviations: UN, Unionidae; MA, Margaritiferidae; HY, Hyriidae; ET, Etheriidae; MY, Mycetopodidae; IR, Iridinidae.

For a more detailed summary of species and genus richness by taxonomy, see Updated Table 3: Richness of species and genera arranged by taxonomy and region.

RegionUnionoidaUNMAHYETMYIR
global800169345339
North America3045
NA113 (0)
NA2150 (96)2 (1)
NA364 (37)1 (0)
NA4154 (103)2 (2)
NA57 (5)1 (0)
Central America588
CA158 (56)8 (4)
South America64249
SA11 (1)1 (1)10 (3)
SA215 (9)16 (8)
SA314 (5)1 (0)22 (7)
SA48 (2)9 (2)
SA539 (32)1 (0)23 (10)
SA62 (2)1 (0)
Afrotropics41139
AF113 (11)1 (0)12 (5)
AF24 (2)1 (0)13 (6)
AF319 (19)1 (0)16 (10)
AF45 (4)1 (0)10 (7)
AF52 (1)1 (0)3 (0)
AF61 (1)1 (0)
North Eurasia434
EU132 (25)3 (2)
EU215 (10)1 (1)
EU33 (0)
East Asia36481
AS12 (0)1 (0)
AS228 (15)1 (1)
AS326 (18)2 (1)
AS493 (70)2 (2)
AS5148 (126)3 (3)
AS631 (24)
AS781 (76)1 (1)
Australasia229
AU114 (11)
AU27 (5)
AU32 (2)9 (7)
AU43 (3)
 
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