Integrative taxonomy, biogeography and conservation of freshwater mussels (Unionidae) in Russia

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 countrylevel 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. 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 2-4. 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. However, freshwater mussels are not known to occur in the Polar Urals, Yamal and Taymyr peninsulas, Arctic Ocean

Evidence for Plio-Pleistocene Duck Mussel Refugia in the Azov Sea River Basins

“…The resulting COI gene sequences were checked manually using BioEdit v. 7.2.5 [16]. In addition, 255 COI sequences of Anodonta and Pseudanodonta specimens were supplied by NCBI GenBank (partially from our works [11,17] and from works of other researchers [2,12,13,[18][19][20][21][22][23]). Four COI sequences of Sinanodonta lauta (Martens, 1877) [15], S. woodiana (Lea, 1834) [24], Unio pictorum (Linnaeus, 1758) [11], and U. tumidus Retzius, 1788 [11] were used as outgroup for phylogenetic analyses (Table S1).…”

“…This freshwater mussel seems to represent one of the most appropriate models for identifying freshwater refugia and reconstructing connections between ancient freshwater basins. This species is widespread in fresh water bodies of the temperate zone of Eurasia, and also inhabits its subarctic part [11]. The mitochondrial genome of A. anatina is characterized by a low nucleotide substitution rate, and therefore can be used for reconstruction on the scale of several million years [12].…”

The Pleistocene-Holocene aquatic molluscs as indicators of the past ecosystem changes in Transbaikalia (Eastern Siberia, Russia)

“…These archaeological finds from the Shilka River Basin were identified as L. grayii. According to molecular genetic studies, living mussels of the genus Lanceolaria, found in the Lake Khanka, Ussuri River Basin, and Lower Amur, belong to this species [34,35].…”

“…Since the excavated shells and shell fragments were morphologically similar to recent shells of Sinanodonta schrenkii from the Amur River Basin, we identified them as belonging to this species. According to molecular genetics analyses, the five nominal species of the genus Sinanodonta inhabit the Amur River Basin and the Primorye Territory of Russia are conspecific and represent the intraspecific forms of a single valid species, S. schrenkii [34,35], which is widespread in the Amur River Basin and the Primorye Territory of Russia.…”

The Patterns and Puzzles of Genetic Diversity of Endangered Freshwater Mussel Unio crassus Philipsson, 1788 Populations from Vistula and Neman Drainages (Eastern Central Europe)

“…The Thick Shelled River Mussel, Unio crassus Philipsson, 1788 is one of the examples that has been reported to show a dramatic decline of populations within the western and central European part of its range and thus has become a major target species for conservation [ 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 ]. In the eastern part of the mussel range the situation is better [ 41 ]. Up to the 20th century U. crassus occupied and colonized a wide range of habitats and was considered the most abundant unionid species in central and northern Europe ([ 42 ] and references therein).…”