ZAMBONGO: Freshwater Mussels of the Congo & Zambezi Basins

• Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, USA (ANSP)
• Illinois Natural History Survey, Champaign, USA (INHS)
• University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, Ann Arbor, USA (UMMZ)
• Museum of Comparative Zoology, Cambridge, USA(MCZ)
• National Museum of Natural History, Washington, USA (USNM)
• Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh (CM)
• Delaware Museum of Natural History, Wilmington, USA

• American Museum of Natural History, New York, USA (AMNH)
• Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago (FMNH)
• Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, Santa Barbara (SBMNH)
• Natural History Museum, London, UK (BMNH)
• Australian Museum, Sydney, Australia (AMS)
• Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin, Germany (ZMB)
• Senckenberg Museum, Frankfurt, Germany (SMF)
• Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France (MNHN)

What sort of information does the ZAMBONGO database provide?

The ZAMBONGO database is arranged hierarchically, allowing you to browse the diversity of the various taxonomic levels, from the families of the order down to the individual specimen lots for each species. For both the genus and species levels, there is also the option to get a complete synonymy of each taxon.

These data were obtained from from various sources relevant to the problem Central African mussel diversity, including Pilsbry & Bequaert (1927), Mandahl-Barth (1988), Daget (1998) and Graf & Cummings (2006). Specimen records were obtained by visiting each collection (listed above) and digitally photographing each lot, including the original label material.

Information about our data model and the implementation can be found at the d'basing page.

How do I retrieve data from the ZAMBONGO database?

The whole system behaves sort of like a "virtual collection". At each taxonomic level, a browsing bar showing the chain of higher taxa above is provided to help maintain a sense of where in the Mollusca the user is. It should be intuitive how to use that browsing bar in combination with your web browser's "back" button to most effectively find the data you seek.

The MUSSELp database project will allow searches in the taxon and locality fields. As we further develop the interface, other data will also come online: taxonomic opinions (i.e., other combinations), references (including page numbers and figures) to relevant works, type information, and various summary statistics. Until then, please enjoy the current version.

What is not available from the ZAMBONGO database?

A Guarantee. The MUSSELp database is definitely a work in progress. As such, much of the information obtained from bibliographic sources provided herein has not been verified. Browse with confidence but don't be surprised if a few errors have crept in. They will be dealt with in due time. Collection records were generally obtained from the specimen lots themselves, and subsequent comments and re-identifications have been added by DLG and KSC. These may not be reflected in the original collections themselves, and their own databases (see links above) should be consulted.

Permission to reproduce specimen images. The copyrights to reproduce particular specimen images are retained by the collections from which they were obtained. Inquiries about image use should be addressed to the curators of those collections (links above). We are grateful to be able to use the specimen images as part of this database project.

Where are the Congo and Zambezi Basins?

The Congo and the Zambezi river basins drain substantial portions of central and southern Africa; the former runs to the Atlantic Ocean, the latter to the Indian.

The Congo is the 5th largest river in the world and second only to the Nile in Africa. Because it crosses the equator twice, it is always the rainy season somewhere in the Congo Basin, and as a result the river can carry as much as 34,000 cubic meters per second of freshwater into its estuary. The most extensive expedition that collected freshwater mussels was that of Lang and Chapin in the early 20th century; their specimens were worked up by Pilsbry & Bequaert (1927).

The Zambezi is considerably smaller than the Congo, with an average discharge of 7000 cubic meters per second. However, the flow is seasonal, and in October and November drops to only 10% of its maximum. Dr. David Livingstone was the first European to explore the river in the mid-19th century. Freshwater mussels collected on that expedition were described by Isaac Lea of the Academy of Natural Sciences.

The taxa of the Lower Congo, Upper Zambezi, the endorheic Okavango Basin and the coastal streams of Angola (AKA the Angola Region) have been recently revised by Graf & Cummings (2006). The freshwater mussel assemblage of the Angola Region includes twenty-three species. Click here for the online version of the checklist.

The vital statistics on these two basins can be found at River Sytems of the World.