Tuesday, August 26, 2025

[Mollusca • 2025] Gibbosula sinensis • A New Species on the verge of Extinction of the World’s most Threatened Freshwater Mussel Family Margaritiferidae Henderson, 1929 (Bivalvia: Unionida) from China

 

Gibbosula sinensis Z.-G. Chen, Y.-T. Dai, H. Chen & X.-P. Wu,

in Z.-G. Chen, Dai, H. Chen, Hu, Jiang, Guo, Ouyang, Zhao et Wu, 2025. 

Abstract
A new species of freshwater mussel, Gibbosula sinensis Z.-G. Chen, Y.-T. Dai, H. Chen & X.-P. Wu, sp. nov., is described from the lower Lancangjiang River Basin in Yunnan, China based on comparative morphology and molecular phylogeny. The new species can be distinguished from congeners by the oblong, slender, very curved, relatively thin, fragile, and rather smooth shell, the front end of the shell higher than the posterior end, and the special habitat selection. The new species is on the verge of extinction and urgently requires attention and protection.

Key Words: Biodiversity, molluscs, phylogeny, taxonomy

Systematics

Family Margaritiferidae Henderson, 1929

Subfamily Gibbosulinae Bogan, Bolotov, Froufe & Lopes-Lima, 2018

Genus Gibbosula Simpson, 1900
Type species. Mya crassa Wood, 1815, by original designation.
 
Gibbosula sinensis sp. nov.
A. Holotype, NCUMB B2507001; B–E. Partial paratypes, NCUMB B2507002–05;
F. Paratype, NCUMB B2507012, shows the soft anatomy; G. Shows mantle attachment scars.

 Gibbosula sinensis Z.-G. Chen, Y.-T. Dai, H. Chen & X.-P. Wu, sp. nov.


Zhong-Guang Chen, Yu-Ting Dai, Hui Chen, Hong-Fei Hu, Jiao Jiang, Liang Guo, Shan Ouyang, Xing-Xing Zhao and Xiao-Ping Wu. 2025. Gibbosula sinensis, A New Species on the verge of Extinction of the World’s most Threatened Freshwater Mussel Family Margaritiferidae Henderson, 1929 from China (Bivalvia, Palaeoheterodonta, Unionida). Zoosystematics and Evolution. 101(4): 1613-1620. DOI: doi.org/10.3897/zse.101.166584