Page last updated
Thu 17 July 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!

Bivalvia | Unionoida | Etherioidea

family IRIDINIDAE Swainson, 1840
     synonyms (7 nomina) | cladomics

Global Diversity of the "Iridinidae". The red wedge of the pie represents the relative Recent species diversity of the family in the order Unionoida (39 of 1020).

The "Iridinidae" (39 Recent spp., 5 genera) is a long-recognized taxon, endemic to the Afrotropics. The family has traditionally been divided among two subfamilies, and recent analyses have suggested that the "Iridinidae" is not monophyletic. While we wait for more data, we will continue to use this family name.