Mussel of the Month

MNHN. Riviere de Fou-Tchou (Kiang Si) [China].

We chose Cuneopsis as this month's MotM in honor of the recently published book on Chinese freshwater mussels by Zhuang & Jing (2013). The last few weeks have been spent updating our local version of the MUSSEL Project Database to reflect this new taxonomic information, including 5 species new to science. It was interesting to learn how many North American freshwater mussel species have been introduced to China by pearl farmers. Those new data will make it to the online version of the MUSSELpdb the next time we update the data (probably early in summer 2014).

The taxonomic information in that book was surprisingly easy to accommodate into our database since, for the most part, the MUSSELpdb was apparently used as the basis for synonymies. Moreover, many of the figures are those featured on this web site. In truth, we would have expected explicit attributions when our pics or taxonomic data were used. Even better, it would have been appropriate to cite our relevant publications (Graf, 2007; Graf & Cummings, 2007, etc.) that form the backbone of this web site. Apparently, rather than being a resource to facilitate taxonomic research, the MUSSELpdb is now the source! We are glad to know that our research is being put to good use. We are also pleased to have our taxonomy "truthed" by local workers.

Classification:

Phylum Mollusca
Class Bivalvia
Subclass Palaeoheterodonta
Order Unionoida

Family UNIONIDAE Rafinesque, 1820
Subfamily UNIONINAE s.s.
Tribe UNIONINI s.s.

Genus Cuneopsis Simpson, 1900

Species Cuneopsis celtiformis (Heude, 1874)