MUSSELpdb | valid sp. Obovaria olivaria synonymy

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Page last updated
Tue 01 Jul 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!

The nominal species (available and otherwise) in this synonymy are listed by usage rather than strictly by publication date. The primary sorting order is by the most recent year (since 1969) that the species name was treated as valid, and then nominal species are sorted secondarily by publication year.

The taxonomic history of the valid species (since 1900) is listed at the bottom of the page.

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species Obovaria olivaria (Rafinesque, 1820): nominal species
4 specimens available.

Amblema olivaria Rafinesque, 1820
Rafinesque, 1820, Ann. Gén. Sci. Phys. 5 (13): 314 [also as ‘U. olivaria’].
Rafinesque, 1864, [in] Binney & Tryon, reprint: 57.

Amblema olivaria — Rafinesque (1820)
Unio olivarius — Ferussac (1835), Conrad (1853)
Obovaria olivarius — Agassiz (1852)
Obovaria olivaria — Vanatta (1915), Ortmann & Walker (1922), Murray & Leonard (1962), Burch (1975), ..., FMCS (2021), Graf & Cummings (2021), Hopper et al. (2023), Hauck et al. (2023)
Obovaria (s.s.) olivaria — Ortmann (1924)
Obovaria (Pseudoön) olivaria — Ortmann (1925)
Obovaria (Pseudoon) olivaria — Frierson (1927), F.C. Baker (1928), Haas (1969), Haas (1969), Campbell & Lydeard (2012)
Pseudoon olivarium — Campbell & Lydeard (2012)

Amblema olivaria var. dilatata Rafinesque, 1820
Rafinesque, 1820, Ann. Gén. Sci. Phys. 5 (13): 314.
Rafinesque, 1864, [in] Binney & Tryon, reprint: 57.
(intro'd as intra-sp. of Amblema olivaria Rafinesque, 1820)

Amblema olivaria var. dilatata — Rafinesque (1820)
Obovaria (Pseudoon) olivaria — Haas (1969)

Amblema olivaria var. fasciolaris Rafinesque, 1820
Rafinesque, 1820, Ann. Gén. Sci. Phys. 5 (13): 314.
Rafinesque, 1864, [in] Binney & Tryon, reprint: 57.
(intro'd as intra-sp. of Amblema olivaria Rafinesque, 1820)

Amblema olivaria var. fasciolaris — Rafinesque (1820)
Obovaria (Pseudoon) olivaria — Haas (1969)

Unio brevialis Sowerby & Sowerby, 1821
‘Lamarck’ Sowerby & Sowerby, 1821, Genera of Shells 2: pl. 86, fig. 4.
(misidentified reference to Unio brevialis Lamarck, 1819)

Unio brevialis — Sowerby & Sowerby (1821), Ferussac (1835)
Margarita (Unio) ellipsis — Lea (1838)
Unio ellipsis — Hanley (1843)
Margaron (Unio) ellipsis — Lea (1852), Lea (1870)
Obovaria (Pseudoon) ellipsis — Simpson (1900), Simpson (1914)
Obovaria (Pseudoon) olivaria — Frierson (1927)
Obovaria olivaria — Parmalee & Bogan (1998), Watters et al. (2009)

Unio ellipsis Lea, 1828
Lea, 1828, Trans. Amer. Phil. Soc. 3 [O. 1]: 268, pl. 4, fig. 4.
Type(s): SYNTYPES ANSP_56614, Ohio River.

Unio ellipsis — Lea (1828), Lea (1829), Jay (1835), Hanley (1843), Küster (1852), Lapham (1860), Sowerby (1868), B.H. Wright (1888), de Gregorio (1914)
Unio elipsis — Ravenel (1834)
Unio olivarius — Ferussac (1835), Conrad (1853)
Margarita (Unio) ellipsis — Lea (1836), Lea (1838)
Unio (s.s.) ellipsis — Swainson (1840), Call (1900)
Margaron (Unio) ellipsis — Lea (1852), Lea (1870)
Unio (Lampsilis) ellipsis — Adams & Adams (1857)
Obovaria (Pseudoon) ellipsis — Simpson (1900), Ortmann (1909), Ortmann (1912), Simpson (1914), Thiele (1934)
Obovaria ellipsis — Ortmann (1909), Ortmann (1910)
Obovaria olivaria — Vanatta (1915), Ortmann & Walker (1922), Murray & Leonard (1962), Burch (1975), ..., Strayer & Jirka (1997), Parmalee & Bogan (1998), Williams et al. (2008), Watters et al. (2009)
Obovaria (Pseudoön) ellipsis — Utterback (1916)
Obovaria (Pseudoon) olivaria — Frierson (1927), F.C. Baker (1928), Haas (1969), Haas (1969)
Pseudoon olivarium — Campbell & Lydeard (2012)

Unio elipsis Ravenel, 1834
‘Lea’ Ravenel, 1834, Cat. Rec. Shells: 6.
(error for Unio ellipsis Lea, 1828)

Unio elipsis — Ravenel (1834)

Unio olivarius Conrad, 1834
‘Rafinesque’ of Authors.
Conrad, 1834, New Fresh-Water Shells: 70.
Ferussac, 1835, Mag. Zool. 5: 28, 34.
(reference to Amblema olivaria Rafinesque, 1820)

Unio olivarius — Conrad (1834), Ferussac (1835)
Obovaria (Pseudoon) ellipsis — Simpson (1900), Simpson (1914)
Obovaria olivaria — Watters et al. (2009)

Unio triagularis Say, 1834
Say, 1834, Amer. Conch. 6: ??.
(misidentified reference to Unio triangularis Barnes, 1823)

Unio triagularis — Say (1834)
Obovaria (Pseudoon) ellipsis — Simpson (1900), Simpson (1914)

Diplasma vitrea Potiez & Michaud, 1844
‘Rafinesque, 1831’ Potiez & Michaud, 1844, Galérie Moll. at. Mus. Douai 2: 150, pl. 58, figs. 1-2.
(misidentified reference to Diplasma (Hemisolasma?) vitrea Rafinesque, 1831)

Diplasma vitrea — Potiez & Michaud (1844)
Obovaria (Pseudoon) olivaria — Frierson (1927)
Obovaria olivaria — Parmalee & Bogan (1998), Watters et al. (2009)

Unio taitanus Sowerby, 1868
‘Lea’ Sowerby, 1868, Conch. Icon. 16: pl. 67, sp. 338.
(misidentified reference to Unio taitianus Lea, 1834; error for Unio taitianus Lea, 1834)

Unio taitanus — Sowerby (1868)
Obovaria (Pseudoon) ellipsis — Simpson (1900), Simpson (1914)
Obovaria (Pseudoon) olivaria — Frierson (1927), Haas (1969)
Obovaria olivaria — Parmalee & Bogan (1998), Watters et al. (2009)

Unio pealei Lea, 1871
Lea, 1871, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. 23: 191.
Lea, 1874, Jour. Acad. Nat. Sci. 8 [O. 13]: 26 [30], pl. 8, fig. 23.
Type(s): HOLOTYPE (MONOTYPY) USNM_85745, Kansas.

Unio pealei — Lea (1871)
Unio pealii — B.H. Wright (1888)
Obovaria (Pseudoon) ellipsis — Simpson (1900), Simpson (1914)
Unio (s.s.) ellipsis — Call (1900)
Obovaria olivaria — Murray & Leonard (1962), Parmalee & Bogan (1998), Williams et al. (2008), Watters et al. (2009)
Obovaria (Pseudoon) olivaria — Haas (1969)

Unio pealii B.H. Wright, 1888
‘Lea’ B.H. Wright, 1888, Check List N. Amer. Unionidae etc.: [4].
(error for Unio pealei Lea, 1871)

Unio pealii — B.H. Wright (1888)

Unio pearlii Scammon, 1906
‘Lea’ Scammon, 1906, KS Univ. Sci. Bull. 3(9): 305.
(error for Unio pealei Lea, 1871)

Unio pearlii — Scammon (1906)
Obovaria olivaria — Parmalee & Bogan (1998), Watters et al. (2009)

Unio mytilloides Frierson, 1927
‘Swainson’ Frierson, 1927, Check List N. Amer. Naiades: 91.
(error for Unio (s.s.) mytiloides Swainson, 1840; misidentified reference to Unio (s.s.) mytiloides Swainson, 1840)

Unio mytilloides — Frierson (1927)
Obovaria (Pseudoon) olivaria — Frierson (1927)

Taxonomic History (since 1900)

Obovaria (Pseudoon) ellipsis — Simpson (1900), Ortmann (1909), Ortmann (1912), Simpson (1914), Thiele (1934)
Unio (s.s.) ellipsis — Call (1900)
Unio pearlii — Scammon (1906)
Obovaria ellipsis — Ortmann (1909), Ortmann (1910)
Unio ellipsis — de Gregorio (1914)
Obovaria olivaria — Vanatta (1915), Ortmann & Walker (1922), Murray & Leonard (1962), Burch (1975), ..., FMCS (2021), Graf & Cummings (2021), Hopper et al. (2023), Hauck et al. (2023)
Obovaria (Pseudoön) ellipsis — Utterback (1916)
Obovaria (s.s.) olivaria — Ortmann (1924)
Obovaria (Pseudoön) olivaria — Ortmann (1925)
Obovaria (Pseudoon) olivaria — Frierson (1927), F.C. Baker (1928), Haas (1969), Haas (1969), Campbell & Lydeard (2012)
Unio mytilloides — Frierson (1927)
Pseudoon olivarium — Campbell & Lydeard (2012)

Page updated: 07:53:52 Tue 01 Jul 2025

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