Annotated synonymy of the recent freshwater mussel taxa of the families Margaritiferidae and Unionidae described from Florida and drainages contiguous with Alabama and Georgia

Abstract

Freshwater habitats of the southeastern U.S. support a high diversity of mussels in the families Margaritiferidae and Unionidae, order Unionoida. River systems of Florida and drainages contiguous with Alabama and Georgia are known to be inhabited by 65 mussel species, representing about 20% of the North American fauna north of Mexico. This diversity led early naturalists to describe a large number of species which were based primarily on shell characters. There are 149 nominal taxa described from the study area, 72 (48%) in Florida, 68 (46%) in Georgia, and nine (6%) in Alabama. Most of the Florida taxa were descibed from the St. Johns River drainage. In Georgia, the majority of taxa were described from the Chattahoochee and Flint River drainages. Type localities were restricted herein for several taxa with vague specimen collection information reported in the original description. Of the 149 taxa described from the study area, it was determined that 41 (28%) are valid species. This represents 64% of the recognized mussel fauna that occur in the study area. The remaining 23 (35%) recognized species in the study area were described from outside drainages, and one (1%) species is undescribed. There are 40 described and one undescribed species endemic to the study area.