Margaritifera auricularia Spengler, 1793

Spengler's freshwater mussel

Taxonomy & Nomenclature

Synonym/s: Pseudunio auricularius (Spengler, 1913); Unio crassissimus (Ferrussac, 1844); Unio margaritanopsis Locard, 1889; Unio margaritifera (Draparnaud, 1801); Unio sinuata Lamarck, 1819; Unio sinuatus (Rossmassler, 1844)

Conservation Status

Rediscovered in 1985 (Spain); 2000 (France)

IUCN RedList status: Critically Endangered

Distribution

France & Spain

Biology & Ecology

Hypodigm

Media

References

Andrés, D. and Ortuño, A. (2014). Margaritifera auricularia (Spengler, 1793): primeras evidencias sobre el antiguo cuaternario de Yecla (Murcia). Athene 24: 21-37.

Altaba, C. R. (1990). The last known population of the freshwater mussel Margaritifera auricularia (Bivalvia, Unionoida): a conservation priority. Biological Conservation 52: 271-286.

Altaba, C. R. & M. A. Lopez, (2001). Experimental demonstration of viability for the endangered giant pearlmussel Margaritifera auricularia (Bivalvia: Unionoida) in its natural habitat. Bolleti de la Societat d’Historia Natural de les Baleares 44: 15-21.

Araujo, R. (2012). Margaritifera auricularia. In VV.AA., Bases ecológicas preliminares para la conservación de las especies de interés comunitario en España: Invertebrados. Ministerio de Agricultura, Alimentación y Medio Ambiente. Madrid: 54 pp.

Araujo, R. and Moreno, R. (1999). Former Iberian distribution of Margaritifera auricularia (Spengler) (Bivalvia: Margaritiferidae). Iberus 17: 127-136.

Araujo, R. and Ramos, M. A. (1998a). Margaritifera auricularia (Unionoidea, Margaritiferidae), the giant freshwater pearl mussel rediscovered in Spain. Graellsia 54: 129-130.

Araujo, R. and Ramos, M. A. (1998b). Description of the glochidium of Margaritifera auricularia (Spengler, 1793) (Bivalvia, Unionidae). Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B 353: 1553-1559.

Araujo, R. and Ramos, M. A. (2000a). A critical revision of the historical distribution of the endangered Margaritifera auricularia (Spengler, 1782) (Mollusca: Margaritiferidae) based on Museum specimens. Journal of Conchology 37: 49–59.

Araujo, R. & M. A. Ramos, (2000b). Status and conservation of the relict giant European freshwater pearl mussel Margaritifera auricularia (Spengler, 1793). Biological Conservation 96: 233-239.

Araujo, R. and 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.

Araujo, R., Bragado, D. and 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: 147-160.

Araujo, R., Bragado, D. and 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. and Ramos, M. A. (2002). 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. and Ramos, M. A. (2003). Laboratory propagation and culturing of juveniles of the endangered freshwater mussel Margaritifera auricularia (Spengler, 1793). Journal of Conchology 38: 53-60.

Bonnemère, L. (1901). Les mollusques des eaux douces de France et leurs perles. Paris, Institut international de bibliographie scientifique, 154 pp.

Bössneck, U., Kleemann, R. and Buttstedt, L. (2006). Die Große Flussperlmuschel (Pseudunio auricularius Spengler, 1793) in Mitteldeutschland: Neue Befunde zur historischen und fossilen Verbreitung (Bivalvia: Margaritiferidae). Malakologische Abhandlungen 24: 141-156.

Cochet, G. (2001). Redécouverte d’une population vivante de la Grande Mulette, Margaritifera auricularia, sur la Vienne et la Creuse. Recherches Naturalistes en Région Centre 10: 3-16.

Cuttelod, A., Seddon, M. and Neubert, E. (2011). European Red List of Non-marine Molluscs. Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg.

Faideau, M. F. (1938). Les perles d’eau douce en Saintonge. Annales de la Société des Sciences Naturelles de la Charente-Maritime 3(5): 37-52.

Gómez, I. and Araujo, R. (2008). Channels and ditches as the last shelter for freshwater mussels. The case of M. auricularia and other naiads at the mid Ebro River basin, Spain. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 18: 658-670.

Graf, Daniel L. and Cummings, Kevin S. (2021). A ‘big data’ approach to global freshwater mussel diversity (Bivalvia: Unionoida), with an updated checklist of genera and species. Journal of Molluscan Studies 87(1): eyaa034.

López, M. A. and Altaba, C. R. (2005). Fish host determination for Margaritifera auricularia (Bivalvia: Unionoida): results and implications. Bolletino Malacologico 41: 89-98.

Lopez, M. A., Altaba, C. R., Rouault, T. and Gisbert, E. (2007). The European sturgeon Acipenser sturio is a suitable host for the glochidia of the freshwater pearl mussel Margaritifera auricularia. Journal of Molluscan Studies 73: 207–209.

Lopes-Lima, M., Bolotov, I.N., Tu Do, V., Aldridge, D.C., Fonseca, M.M., Ming Gan, H., Gofarov, M.Y., Kondakov, A.V., Prié, V., Sousa, R., Varandas, S., Vikhrev, I.V., Teixeira, A., Wu, R-W., Wu, X., Zieritz, A., Froufe, E., Bogan, A.E. (Accepted, 2018). Expansion and systematics redefinition of the most threatened freshwater mussel family, the Margaritiferidae. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2018.04.041

Nakamura, K. and Guerrero, J. (2008). Margaritifera auricularia, un difıcil reto de conservacion. Quercus 265: 20-25.

Nakamura, K., Yanguas, M. A., Ruiz, I., de Blas, I., Elbaile, E. and Salinas, C. (2015). The first year of Margaritifera auricularia (Spengler, 1793). Breeding in captivity in Aragon, Spain. 2nd International seminar on the rearing of unionoid mussels. Tuesday 24th November – Thursday 26th November 2015, Clervaux (Luxembourg).

Nakamura, K., L. Cucala, A. Mestre, F. Mesquita-Joanes, E. Elbaile, C. Salinas & M. Ángel Muñoz-Yanguas, 2017. Modelling growth in the critically endangered freshwater mussel Margaritifera auricularia (Spengler, 1793) in the Ebro basin. Hydrobiologia.

Nienhuis, J. A. J. H., 2003. The rediscovery of Spengler’s freshwater pearlmussel Pseudunio auricularius (Spengler, 1793) (Bivalvia, Unionoidea, Margaritiferidae) in two river systems in France, with an analysis of some factors causing its decline. Basteria 67: 67-86.

Prié, Vincent and Audibert, Cédric. (2019). What can we learn from regional museum collections? A reconstruction of historical distribution of the endangered Giant Freshwater Pearl Mussel Pseudunio auricularius (Spengler, 1793) in France. Colligo, 2(1). https://perma.cc/K3L6-AS3D

Prié, V., Bousquet, P., Serena, A., Tabacchi, E., Jourde, P., Adam, B., Deschamps, T., Charneau, M., Tico, T., Bramard, M. and Cochet, G. (2010). Nouvelles populations de Grande Mulette Margaritifera auricularia (Spengler, 1793) (Bivalvia, Margaritiferidae) découvertes dans le sud-ouest de la France. MalaCo 6: 294-297.

Prié, V., Cochet, G. and Philippe, L. (2008a). Une population majeure de la très rare Grande Mulette Margaritifera auricularia (Bivalvia; Margaritiferidae) dans la Charente (France). MalaCo 5: 230-239.

Prié V., Cochet, G. and Philippe, L. (2008b). La Grande Mulette Margaritifera auricularia dans l’Oise : Chronique d’une disparition annoncée. Le Courrier de la Nature, 239: 20-24.

Prié, V., Philippe, L. and Cochet, G. (2007). Evaluation de l’impact d’un projet de canal sur les naïades de l’Oise (France) et découverte de valves récentes de Margaritifera auricularia (Spengler, 1793) (Bivalvia: Margaritiferidae). MalaCo 4: 178-182.

Prié, V., Philippe, L. and Cochet, G. (2011). Plan National d’Actions en faveur de la Grande Mulette Margaritifera auricularia – 2012-2017. Ministère de l’écologie, du développement durable, des transports et du logement.

Prié, Vincent, Soler J., Araujo R., Cucherat X., Philippe L., Legrand N., Patry N., Adam B., Jugé P., Richard N. & Wantzen K. M. (2018). Challenging exploration of troubled waters: a decade of surveys of the giant freshwater pearl mussel Margaritifera auricularia in Europe. Hydrobiologia 810: 157-175. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-017-3456-0 [Abstract]

Soler, J., Boisneau, C., Wantzen, K. M. and Araujo, R. (2018). Gasterosteus aculeatus Linnaeus, 1758, a new host fish for the endangered Margaritifera auricularia (Spengler, 1793) (Unionoida: Margaritiferidae). Journal of Molluscan Studies. https://doi.org/10.1093/mollus/eyy038 [Abstract]

Villasante, F., J. Abad, R. Araujo & J. Balset, 2016. Aportación al conocimiento de la presencia de Margaritifera auricularia (Spengler, 1793) en el cauce del río Tajo (España). Iberus 34: 79-82.

http://extinctanimals.proboards.com/thread/23089/margaritifera-auricularia

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