The Mytilidae are a
family
Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
of small to large
marine and
brackish-water bivalve
Bivalvia () or bivalves, in previous centuries referred to as the Lamellibranchiata and Pelecypoda, is a class (biology), class of aquatic animal, aquatic molluscs (marine and freshwater) that have laterally compressed soft bodies enclosed b ...
mollusc
Mollusca is a phylum of protostome, protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant taxon, extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum ...
s in the
order Mytilida. One of the genera, ''
Limnoperna'', even inhabits
freshwater
Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. The term excludes seawater and brackish water, but it does include non-salty mi ...
environments. Mytilidae, which contains some 52 genera, is the only extant family within the order Mytilida.
Species in the family Mytilidae are found worldwide, but they are more abundant in colder seas, where they often form uninterrupted beds on rocky shores in the
intertidal zone
The intertidal zone or foreshore is the area above water level at low tide and underwater at high tide; in other words, it is the part of the littoral zone within the tidal range. This area can include several types of habitats with various ...
and the shallow subtidal. The subfamily Bathymodiolinae is found in
deep-sea habitats.
Mytilids include the well-known, edible sea mussels.
A common feature of the shells of mussels is an asymmetrical shell, which has a thick, adherent
periostracum. The animals attach themselves to a solid substrate using a
byssus
A byssus () is a bundle of filaments secreted by many species of bivalve mollusc that function to attach the mollusc to a solid surface. Species from several families of clams have a byssus, including pen shells ( Pinnidae), true mussels (Mytili ...
.
A 2020 study of the phylogeny of the Mytilidae recovered two main
clade
In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...
s derived from an
epifaunal ancestor, with subsequent lineages shifting to other lifestyles, and correlating
convergent evolution
Convergent evolution is the independent evolution of similar features in species of different periods or epochs in time. Convergent evolution creates analogous structures that have similar form or function but were not present in the last comm ...
of
siphon
A siphon (; also spelled syphon) is any of a wide variety of devices that involve the flow of liquids through tubes. In a narrower sense, the word refers particularly to a tube in an inverted "U" shape, which causes a liquid to flow upward, abo ...
traits.
Subfamilies and genera
, the
World Register of Marine Species
The World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) is a taxonomic database that aims to provide an authoritative and comprehensive catalogue and list of names of marine organisms.
Content
The content of the registry is edited and maintained by scien ...
accepts 32 genera split into eight subfamilies.
[
]
Subfamily Brachidontinae
*'' Brachidontes'' Swainson, 1840
*'' Geukensia'' Van de Poel, 1959
*'' Ischadium'' Jukes-Browne, 1905
*'' Mytilaster'' Monterosato, 1883
Subfamily Crenellinae
*†'' Arcoperna'' Conrad, 1865
*'' Arcuatula'' Jousseaume, 1919
*'' Arvella'' Scarlato, 1960
*'' Choromytilus'' T. Soot-Ryen, 1952
*'' Crenella'' T. Brown, 1827
*'' Exosiperna'' Iredale, 1929
*'' Musculus'' Röding, 1798
*''Mytella
''Mytella'' is a genus of saltwater clams, marine (ocean), marine bivalve molluscs in the subfamily Arcuatulinae of the family Mytilidae, the mussels.
Species
* ''Mytella brasiliensis'' (Gray, 1825)
* ''Mytella guyanensis'' J.B.P.A. Lamarck, 18 ...
'' T. Soot-Ryen, 1955
*'' Parabrachidontes'' K. S. Tan, S. H. M. Tan, Sanpanich, Duangdee & Ambarwati, 2024
*'' Perna'' Philipsson, 1788
*'' Rhomboidella'' Monterosato, 1884
*†'' Semimodiola'' Cossmann, 1887
*'' Solamen'' Iredale, 1924
*'' Vilasina'' Scarlato, 1960
Subfamily Dacrydiinae
*'' Dacrydium'' Torell, 1859
Subfamily Lithophaginae
*'' Lithophaga'' Röding, 1798
Subfamily Mytilinae
*'' Adula'' H. Adams & A. Adams, 1857
*'' Crenomytilus'' T. Soot-Ryen, 1955
*'' Dentimodiolus'' Iredale, 1939
*'' Gregariella'' Monterosato, 1883
*'' Mytilus'' Linnaeus, 1758
*†'' Praemytilus'' F. W. Anderson & L. R. Cox, 1948
*'' Trichomya'' Ihering, 1900
Subfamily Mytiliseptinae
*'' Austromytilus'' Laseron, 1956
*'' Mytilisepta'' T. Habe, 1951
*'' Perumytilus'' Olsson, 1961
*'' Semimytilus'' T. Soot-Ryen, 1955
Subfamily Septiferinae
*'' Septifer'' Récluz, 1848
†Subfamily Xenomytilinae
*†'' Lycettia'' L. R. Cox, 1937
*†'' Xenomytilus'' Squires & Saul, 2006
''
Incertae sedis
or is a term used for a taxonomy (biology), taxonomic group where its broader relationships are unknown or undefined. Alternatively, such groups are frequently referred to as "enigmatic taxa". In the system of open nomenclature, uncertainty ...
''
*†'' Admytilus'' Berezovsky, 2015
*'' Amygdalum'' Megerle von Mühlfeld, 1811
*†'' Arcomytilus'' Agassiz, 1842
*†'' Assytilus'' Berezovsky, 2015
*'' Aulacomya'' Mörch, 1853
*†'' Cuneolus'' Stephenson, 1941
*†'' Inoperna'' Conrad, 1873
*†'' Limnolycettia'' C. M. Kolesnikov, 1980
*†'' Mauricia'' G. D. Harris, 1919
*†'' Mysidioptera'' Salomon, 1895
*†'' Mytilosootus'' Stilwell & Zinsmeister, 1992
*†'' Paramusculus'' Kadolsky, 1989
*†'' Promytilus'' Newell, 1942
*†'' Regulifer'' Fürsich & Werner, 1988
*†'' Rhynchomytilus'' Rollier, 1914
*†'' Samiolus'' Kiel & Taviani, 2017
*'' Urumella'' Hayami & Kase, 1993
*†'' Volsellina'' Newell, 1942
References
External links
*
*
{{Authority control
Bivalve families
Taxa named by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque