Abstract
Freshwater mussels are ecosystem engineers and keystone species in aquatic environments. Unfortunately, due to dramatic declines this fauna is among the most threatened globally. Here, we clarify the taxonomy and biogeography of Russian Unionidae species based on the most comprehensive multi-locus dataset sampled to date. We revise the distribution and assess the conservation status for each species. This fauna comprises 16 native species from 11 genera and 4 tribes: Anodonta, Pseudanodonta (Anodontini); Amuranodonta, Beringiana, Buldowskia, Cristaria, Sinanodonta (Cristariini); Middendorffinaia, Nodularia, Unio (Unionini); and Lanceolaria (Lanceolariini). No country-level endemic species are known in Russia, except for Buldowskia suifunica that may also occur in China. Sinanodonta woodiana, a non-native species, was introduced from China. Russia comprises the northern parts of Western and Eastern Palearctic subregions. The first subregion with six species encompasses a huge area from the western boundary of Russia to the Lena Basin in Siberia. The second subregion with 10 species covers the Amur Basin, rivers east of the Lena Basin, coastal basins of the Japan Sea, and the North Pacific Islands. The fauna of Russia primarily includes widespread generalist species that are here considered Least Concern (LC). However, Buldowskia suifunica and Sinanodonta lauta have restricted distributions and are assessed here as Vulnerable (VU) and Endangered (EN), respectively.
Highlights
Freshwater mussels are ecologically and economically important aquatic animals[1] that are sensitive to water pollution, habitat loss, climate changes, and other negative anthropogenic and natural impacts[2,3,4]
Based on our novel multi-locus phylogeny (Fig. 1) and morphological data, we found that the Russian Unionidae fauna includes 16 native species from 11 genera and 4 tribes: Anodonta, Pseudanodonta (Anodontini), Amuranodonta, Beringiana, Buldowskia, Cristaria, Sinanodonta (Cristariini), Middendorffinaia, Nodularia, Unio (Unionini), and Lanceolaria (Lanceolariini) (Table 1 and Figs. 2–5)
Our results support the conclusion that the Russian Unionidae fauna is rather species-poor[5,6,26], with only 16 native species belonging to 11 genera of a single subfamily, the Unioninae
Summary
Freshwater mussels (order Unionida) are ecologically and economically important aquatic animals[1] that are sensitive to water pollution, habitat loss, climate changes, and other negative anthropogenic and natural impacts[2,3,4] These animals are widely distributed throughout Russia, representing keystone taxa in various water bodies of European Russia, Siberia, and the Russian Far East (mainland, Sakhalin, and Kurile Archipelago)[5]. A thorough review of the body of historical literature is presented in the recent catalogue of molluscs from fresh and brackish water bodies of ex-USSR25 All of these historical works were based solely on a morphological approach that has biased the taxonomic solutions due to the high variability of the shell shape, convexity and anatomical features in freshwater mussels[26,27,28,29,30,31]. A revision of the Unionidae in Russia is far from being complete, with multiple taxa having a doubtful taxonomic status, especially those from Siberia and the Far East
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