''Margaritifera auricularia'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriat ...

of European

freshwater mussel Freshwater bivalves are one kind of freshwater mollusc, along with freshwater snails. They are bivalves that live in fresh water as opposed to salt water, which is the main habitat type for bivalves. The majority of species of bivalve molluscs ...

, an aquatic

bivalve Bivalvia (), in previous centuries referred to as the Lamellibranchiata and Pelecypoda, is a class (biology), class of marine and freshwater Mollusca, molluscs that have laterally compressed bodies enclosed by a shell consisting of two hing ...

mollusk Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is e ...

in the family

Margaritiferidae Margaritiferidae is a family of medium-sized freshwater mussels, aquatic bivalve molluscs in the order Unionida. Text may have been copied from this source, which is available under Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)licence. It is the ...

, the freshwater pearl mussels. Formerly found throughout western and central Europe, the species is now critically endangered and is one of the rarest

invertebrate Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chorda ...

s worldwide, being confined to a few rivers in Spain and France. ''M. auricularia'' is commonly known as Spengler's freshwater mussel in honour of

Lorenz Spengler Lorenz Spengler (22 September 1720 – 20 December 1807) was a Danish turner and naturalist. Born in Schaffhausen, Switzerland he arrived at Copenhagen in 1743 and became a tutor to Christian VI of Denmark and later Frederick V of Denmark Fr ...

, who first described this species.

Description

Large shells are up to 180 mm in length.

Taxonomy

There are different opinions on the taxonomy of this species. The species was originally described as ''Unio auricularius'' Spengler, 1793. When it is placed in the genus '' Margaritifera'' Schumacher, 1816, it is considered to be: * ''Margaritifera auricularia'' (Spengler, 1793) At other times it is placed in the genus '' Pseudunio'' F. Haas, 1910, in which case it is known as: * ''Pseudunio auricularia'' (Spengler, 1793) Sometimes it is given the masculine gender: * ''Pseudunio auricularius auricularius'' (Spengler, 1793)

Distribution

It is found in: * France – recent distribution *

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

– recent * Spain – recent *

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of th ...

– recent(?) or fossil(?) * ''maybe'' in some rivers in north Africa: Morocco *

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

– locally extinct from upper Rhine after 1500F. Welter Schultes. 2008
''Margaritifera auricularia''
AnimalBase. Last modified 23 October 2008. Accessed 5 November 2008. *

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

– extinct or fossil *

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

– extinct or fossil *

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

– extinct or fossil *

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

– only fossil records in layers with settlement from neolite: Ďáblice,

Kobylisy Kobylisy is a district in the north of Prague, located in Prague 8. The eastern part of the district is home to a large panel housing estate with over 10,000 residents. The area is served by Kobylisy and Ládví stations on the Prague Metro, bo ...

Roztoky Roztoky (; german: Rostok) is a town in Prague-West District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 8,600 inhabitants. Geography Roztoky is located north of Prague, in the Prague Plateau. The town lies on the left ba ...

, Podbaba.Ložek V. 1964. ''Quartärmollusken der Tschechoslowakei''. Rozpravy Ústředního ústavu geologického, Vol. 31, Nakladatelství ČSAV, Praha, volume 31, 374 pp., 32 tables, 4 supplements, page 317. (in German) *

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

– ?

Ecology

The fish hosts for the

glochidium The glochidium (plural glochidia) is a microscopic larval stage of some freshwater mussels, aquatic bivalve mollusks in the families Unionidae and Margaritiferidae, the river mussels and European freshwater pearl mussels. These larvae are t ...

larvae of this species are: '' Salaria fluviatilis'', ''

Gambusia holbrooki The eastern mosquitofish (''Gambusia holbrooki'') is a species of freshwater fish, closely related to the western mosquitofish, ''Gambusia affinis''. It is a member of the family Poeciliidae of order Cyprinodontiformes. The eastern mosquitofish ...

'', ''

Acipenser baerii The Siberian sturgeon (''Acipenser baerii'') is a species of sturgeon in the family Acipenseridae. It is most present in all of the major Siberian river basins that drain northward into the Kara, Laptev and East Siberian Seas, including the O ...

'', ''

Acipenser naccarii The Adriatic sturgeon (''Acipenser naccarii'') is a species of fish in the family Acipenseridae. It is native to the Adriatic Sea and large rivers which flow in it of Albania, Greece, Italy, Montenegro, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Slove ...

'' and ''

Acipenser sturio The European sea sturgeon (''Acipenser sturio''), also known as the Atlantic sturgeon or common sturgeon, is a species of sturgeon native to Europe. It was formerly abundant, being found in coastal habitats all over Europe. It is anadromous and b ...

''. The hosts for this species were unknown for a long time: as recently as 1998 they were still not known.Araujo, R. & Ramos, M. A. 1998. ''Description of the glochidium of Margaritifera auricularia (Spengler, 1793) (Bivalvia, Unionidae)''. Philosophical Transactions of The Royal Society of London B, 353: 1553–1559.

References

External links

* Araujo, R & Moreno, R. 1999. Former Iberian Distribution of Margaritifera auricularia (Spengler) (Bivalvia: Margaritiferidae). Iberus, 17(1): 127–136. * Araujo, R., Bragado, D. & Ramos, M. A. 2000. Occurrence of glochidia of the endangered Margaritifera auricularia (Spengler, 1793) and other mussel species (Bivalvia: Unionoida) in drift and on fishes in an ancient channel of the Ebro River, Spain. Archiv für Hydrobiologie, 148(1): 147–160. * Araujo, R. & Ramos, M. A. 2000. A critic revision of the historical distribution of Margaritifera auricularia (Spengler, 1793) (Mollusca: Margaritiferidae) based on museum specimens. Journal of Conchology, 37(1): 49–59. * Araujo, R. & Ramos, M. A. 2000
Status and conservation of the relict giant European freshwater pearl mussel Margaritifera auricularia (Spengler, 1793)
Biological Conservation, 96(2): 233–239 * Grande, C., Araujo, R. & Ramos, M. A. 2001
The gonads of Margaritifera auricularia (Spengler, 1793) and Margaritifera margaritifera (L. 1758) (Bivalvia: Unionoidea)
Journal of Molluscan Studies, 6: 27–35. Araujo, R., Bragado, D. & Ramos, M. A. 2001
Identification of the river blenny, Salaria fluviatilis, as a host to the glochidia of Margaritifera auricularia
Journal of Molluscan Studies, 67: 128–129. * Araujo, R., Cámara N. & Ramos, M. A
Glochidium metamorphosis in the endangered freshwater mussel Margaritifera auricularia (Spengler, 1793): A histological and scanning electron microscopy study
Journal of Morphology. 254: 259–265. * Araujo, R., Quirós, M. & Ramos, M. A. 2003. Laboratory propagation and culturing of juveniles of the endangered freshwater mussel Margaritifera auricularia (Spengler, 1793). Journal of Conchology. 38(1): 53–60. * Araujo, R. 2004 Two overlooked host fish species of Margaritifera auricularia (Bivalvia, Unionoidea, Margaritiferidae). Basteria, 67: 113. * Vallejo, A., & Araujo, R. The Historical misidentification of Margaritifera auricularia for M. margaritifera (Bivalvia, Unionoidea) explained by their iconography. Malacologia. (in press) * Araujo, R. & Ramos, M. A. 2001. Action Plan for Margaritifera auricularia. Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats (Bern Convention). Council of Europe Publishing. Nature and environment, No. 117. Strasbourg. 28 pp. * Araujo, R. & Ramos, M. A. 2001. Life-History data on the virtually unknown Margaritifera auricularia. En: Ecological Studies, Vol. 145. "Ecology and Evolution of the Freshwater Mussels Unionoida" ed. by G. Bauer and K. Wächtler. Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg. 143–152. Por invitación. * Araujo, R. & Ramos, M. A. 2001. Margaritifera auricularia. En: Los Invertebrados no Insectos de la "Directiva Hábitat" en España. Serie Técnica. Ed. Organismo Autónomo Parques Nacionales (Ministerio de Medio Ambiente). Madrid. 93–101. {{Taxonbar, from=Q2861132

auricularia ''Auricularia'' is a genus of fungi in the family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maint ...

Molluscs of Europe Bivalves described in 1793 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN

Description

Taxonomy

Distribution

Ecology

See also

References

External links

Further reading