The September 2003 Mussel of the Month is Etheria elliptica, the African representative of the family Etheriidae. Etheria is a monotypic genus.
UMMZ 43223. White Nile River, Africa.
Etheria elliptica is one of only four (some say three) species of cementing southern hemisphere freshwater mussels referred to the Etheriidae. E. elliptica is widespread in Africa and is found in Madagascar as well.
Classification:
Phylum Mollusca
Class Bivalvia
Subclass Palaeoheterodonta
Order Unionoida
Superfamily Etherioidea Deshayes 1830
Family Etheriidae s.s.
Genus Etheria Lamarck, 1807
Species Etheria elliptica Lamarck, 1807
For more info on this unique species see:
Pilsbry, H.A. & J. Bequaert. 1927. The aquatic mollusks of the Belgian Congo. With a geographical and ecological account of Congo malacology. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 53: 69-602 + 68 plates.
Yonge, C.M. 1962. On Etheria elliptica Lam. and the course of evolution, including the assumption of monomyarianism, in the Etheriidae (Bivalvia: Unionacea). Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B 244: 423-458.
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