The MUSSELp Projects

Unionoida cum Grano Salis ("freshwater mussels with a grain of salt") is our first attempt to pull together what is currently known of the species level diversity of these freshwater mollusks. These pages document our current estimate of freshwater mussel diversity, report how it is partitioned both taxonomically and geographically and list all currently recognized taxa.

The Simpson-Haas Index is a subset of the data compiled for the MUSSEL Project. "Simpson" refers to Charles T. Simpson, and "Haas" is of course Fritz Haas. Each of these 20th century freshwater malacologists developed global treatments of the Unionoida, and these works have served as an excellent starting point for the MUSSELpdb. The Index will be periodically updated as inconsistencies and spelling errors are discovered and corrected (both ours and theirs).

ZAMBONGO: Freshwater Mussels of the Congo & Zambezi Basins (Beta) is an online database documenting the diversity of freshwater mussels in those two African river systems, including the intervening basins of Angola and the Okavango. At present, one can browse through the nomenclature and diversity of various taxonomic levels — from families down to specimens. Images of lots from various collections are provided.

OZ: The Freshwater Mussels of Australasia (beta) is an online database documenting the diversity of freshwater mussels in the southwestern Pacific basins, including Australia, New Guinea and the other islands that have freshwater mussels. At present, one can browse through the nomenclature and diversity at various taxonomic levels — from families down to specimens or search using our custom interface. Images of lots from various collections are provided.

Palearctic Freshwater Mussels by Daniel L. Graf. "The freshwater mussel assemblage of the Palearctic is not particularly diverse, relative to other areas of the world. ... The current consensus among most freshwater malacologists is that there are 45 Palearctic freshwater mussel species. That assessment is complicated by the use of the "Comparatory" or "Comparatorial" method in eastern Russia, which drastically inflates diversity estimates when compared to those estimated for Biological species."

Mashrua Al Mahar: Freshwater Bivalves of the Nile River, Egypt is an online collaboration between the MUSSEL Project and Dr. Kohar Garo of Cairo University, Egypt.

The MUSSELp PDFs Library. Occasionally, we acquire (or produce) pdfs that might be of general interest to the malacological community.

Wyoming Freshwater Mussels by Dr. Alan M. Cvancara. "Although perhaps surprising to some, one can reasonably say that Wyoming is still in the discovery phase in terms of its freshwater mussels..."

Montana Freshwater Mussels by David Stagliano. "With the completion of Montana’s Comprehensive Fish & Wildlife Conservation Strategy (CFWCS) for native species management in 2006..."

Freshwater Mussels of the Angola Region by Daniel L. Graf & Kevin S. Cummings. "The aquatic fauna of the Angola region in southwestern Africa, including the Cuanza (= Kwanza), Cunene, Okavango, upper Zambezi, Cassai (= Kasai) and lower Congo basins, is poorly known."