Molecular phylogeny reveals a new genus and species of freshwater mussel (Bivalvia, Unionidae, Gonideinae) from Jiangxi, China

By

Dai, Yu-Ting
Chen, Zhongguang
Cheng, Yu-Zhuo
Huang, Xiao-Chen
Ouyang, Shan
Shu, Fengyue
Wu, Xiaoping

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2024-10-22

Original Publication

Zoosystematics and evolution

Volume

100

Series / Issue

Issue: 4

Pages

1419--1429

Subjects

Gonideini , molecular systematics , morphological characters , taxonomy

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia Pensoft

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zse.100.135217

 

Abstract

Freshwater mussels of the tribe Gonideini (Bivalvia: Unionidae: Gonideinae) constitute one of the most taxonomically diverse groups and serve as keystone species in riverine and lacustrine ecosystems across East Asia. A new genus and species of Gonideini (Bivalvia: Unionidae) is described from Jiangxi, China, as Pseudopostolata angulagen. et sp. nov. based on an integrative analysis of shell morphology and molecular data. The validity of the new genus and species is supported by distinct conchological features: a short, rounded anterior; a long, wide posterior; a slightly downward-curved dorsal margin; and a distinctly obtuse angle at the center of the posterior margin. The multi-locus (COI + 16S rRNA + 28S rRNA) phylogeny showed that the species formed a monophyletic group in the tribe Gonideini of the subfamily Gonideinae. Pseudopostolata angulagen. et sp. nov. is identified as the sister group to a clade comprising the genera Postolata, Cosmopseudodon, Obovalis, Ptychorhynchus, Parvasolenaia, and Koreosolenaia. We emphasize the significant morphological convergence in freshwater mussels, particularly within Gonideini, highlighting the necessity of an integrated taxonomic approach for accurate generic classification of this group.