Integrated taxonomy reveals new threatened freshwater mussels (Bivalvia: Hyriidae: Westralunio) from southwestern Australia.

ABSTRACT: The freshwater mussel Westralunio carteri (Iredale, 1934) has long been considered the sole Westralunio species in Australia, limited to the Southwest and listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List and under Australian legislation. Here, we used species delimitation models based on COI mtDNA sequences to confirm existence of three evolutionarily significant units (ESUs) within this taxon and conducted morphometric analyses to investigate whether shell shape differed significantly among these ESUs. "W. carteri" I was found to be significantly larger and more elongated than "W. carteri" II and "W. carteri" II + III combined, but not different from "W. carteri" III alone. We recognise and redescribe "W. carteri" I as Westralunio carteri (Iredale, 1934) from western coastal drainages and descri

SUBMITTER: Klunzinger MW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9701689 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature