The Altamaha River on the Georgia coastal
plain, United States. The areas tucked in behind the sand
bars are most favorable for unionaceans, sphaericeans,
viviparids, pleurocerids, and a few BIG alligators.
Freshwater Molluscan Shells / Links
These include links to pages with material I would want on this site, and subjects related to freshwater malacology. Typically, about 20% of links change or go offline every year. Often a search into re-arranged domains and directories turns them up. Of those I could not relocate, links to archived material are included for those that seemed important, but many of these documents are incomplete. Links checked, updated, February 19, 2011. Most recent new links Aug. 2015.
Bivalves
Western North America mussels, excellent illustrated PDF: http://www.fws.gov/columbiariver/mwg/pdfdocs/Pacific_Northwest_Mussel_Guide.pdf
Global diversity of freshwater bivalves http://www.springerlink.com/content/fu2128702j610641/ (ABSTRACT)
Anatomy of a Unionid mussel:
Soft parts; http://www.fws.gov/midwest/mussel/images/mussel_anatomy.html
Shell; http://www.fws.gov/midwest/mussel/images/mussel_anatomy_side.htmlMussel Project: towards a reclassification of the Unionoida; progress reports and databases. http://mussel-project.ua.edu/evol/
Atlantic Slope Elliptio, also conglutinates, databases, other projects. New worldwide, more comprehensive mussel gallery;
http://www.biosci.ohio-state.edu/~molluscs/OSUM2/biv.htmUnionacean systematics, other papers. Conclusions are diagrammed in Dissertation, Chapter 7b.
http://web.archive.org/web/20051222130020/http://www.ummz.lsa.umich.edu/mollusks/people/graf.html archived siteFreshwater Mussel Genera of the World; one example from each unionacean genus, good images;
http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/~ksc/MusselGenera.htmlNorth American freshwater mussels; their biology, exploitation, and environmental destruction: http://www.conchologistsofamerica.org/articles/y1994/9406_watters.asp
Their collecting, identification, and misidentification: http://www.conchologistsofamerica.org/articles/y1994/9409_watters.aspAmazing examples of agressive mimicry in Unionid egg/larval conglutinates. Video Clips! http://unionid.missouristate.edu/
Pictures of Illinois species including several extinct; commercial exploitation, etc. http://dnr.state.il.us/education/mussels/intro.htm
Unionid mussels of the northern Midwest and Hudson Bay drainages; keys, information, and illustrations. http://web.archive.org/web/20050310004514/http://www.ummz.lsa.umich.edu/mollusks/people/Graf/northernmussels/index.html archived site
North Carolina, comprhensive information on unionid mussels, ID's, status, distribution. http://web.archive.org/web/20060103133729/http://www.ncwildlife.org/pg07_WildlifeSpeciesCon/pg7b1a.htm archived site
New York, New Jersey, Connecticut mussels, complete guide to biology, study, identification, conservation. http://cbc.amnh.org/mussel/index.html
Excellent gallery of American unionacean clams, including specimens from old collections, Florida and deep south species. On commercial site, photo galleries: http://web.archive.org/web/20010720223051/http://www.univershell.com/fresh/unionidae.html archived site; slow to load
Extensive links to technical articles, projects, home pages dealing with the unionacean clams: http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/~ksc/home.html
Freshwater mussels exhibit, McClung Museum, Knoxville, Tennessee. Web page and exhibit http://mcclungmuseum.utk.edu/permanent/mussels/index.html
Freshwater pearls exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History, New York, links to marine pearls; http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/pearls/fresh/
Triannual Unionid Reports (TUR): conservation status and research. Unionaceans, other mollusks, mostly North American. http://ellipse.inhs.uiuc.edu/FMCS/TUR/
Recent work on Western United States unionaceans. Slide shows!(mostly now offline) See archive of this important site: http://web.archive.org/web/20050128184612/http://columbiariver.fws.gov/pdfdocs/habitat/Proceedings.pdf
Example of freshwater mussel shells in archaeology, and references in field: http://web.archive.org/web/20070106012006rn_2/www.assemblage.group.shef.ac.uk/1/peacock.html archived site
Analysis of shell midden deposits exposed by the 2010 Nashville flood in Tennessee. 2012 publication.
httpswww.academia.edu1876539_ZOOARCHAEOLOGICAL_ANALYSIS_OF_A_MULTICOMPONENT_SHELL-BEARING_SITE_IN_DAVIDSON_COUNTY_TENNESSEEUse of freshwater mussels in stable isotope geochemistry, http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.wzw.tum.de/wildbio/paper/GCA2005Geistetal.pdf archived site
Example of mussel fishery management, Brazil. (Malacological Society of London, Bull. 33)
http://web.archive.org/web/20030622152147/socrates.edsc.ulst.ac.uk/bull/Bull33/BEASLEY.HTM archived site, slow to load.Freshwater mussels for Primary schoolers http://www.uvm.edu/~pass/tignor/mussels/index.htm
Corbicula in America. http://www.iisgcp.org/exoticsp/asianclam.htm
Missouri Conservationist article with recipes for Corbicula http://www.mdc.mo.gov/conmag/1999/08/40.htm
Corbicula extract marketed as a food suplement for the liver. Sites change frequently. Please search "corbicula extract"
Genetic analysis of invasive Corbicula: http://www.lsa.umich.edu/eeb/people/diarmaid/AMB.pdf
Oyster-like, cemented species of Corbicula, new species from Indonesia (ABSTRACT) http://www.springerlink.com/content/q286j108p141x375/
Zebra Mussels, plague of the Great Lakes and Midwestern rivers. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zebra_mussel
PBS News Hour segment, Aug 23, 2002 on the drying out of the Colorado delta; Karl Flessa and the brackish water Mulinia coloradoensis (Family Mactridae), http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/environment/july-dec02/water_8-23.html#
Mussels of Santa Catarina State, southern Brazil, Portuguese site. http://web.archive.org/web/20041026170919/http://www.intergate.com.br/malacologia/projetonaiade/projetonaiade.html archived site.
Ortmann, A. E., 1921. South American Naiades; a contribution to the knowledge of the freshwater mussels of South America. Memoirs of the Carnegie Museum, Vol. VIII no 3, pp 451 - 671. Online at http://www.archive.org/details/southamericannai00ortm
Margaritifera margaritifera in Bavaria, German site.
http://www.lfu.bayern.de/natur/fachinformationen/fische_muscheln_krebse/muscheln/index.htmGroßmuscheln: Unionacean clams in Germany. German site.
http://web.archive.org/web/20071111112027/http://www.br-online.de/umwelt-gesundheit/unserland/umwelt_artenschutz/arten_biotope/muscheln.shtml
archived site.
Czech site; http://www.sweb.cz/voluta/2001_21/mlzobr.htmlRussian site, Aquaria http://www.aquaria.ru/books/bazanov.shtml?22
Russian freshwater bivalves, Russian site http://edu.greensail.ru/encyclopedia/animals/mollusky_dvustvor.shtml
Ganges River bivalvia, Wolfgang Fischer's reference with many new pictures.
http://ipp.boku.ac.at/private/wf/Bivalvia_India/Bivalvia_Ganga_River.htmlChinese unionidae, corbicula; Classic Heude reference in French: http://www.archive.org/details/conchyliologiefl110heud
Magazine articles, freshwater pearls, pearls in general http://www.tennesseeriverpearls.com/news/index.html
Tennessee Pearl Tour http://www.tennesseeriverpearls.com/Cooking and eating freshwater bivalves from the mouth of the Yellow River. Chinese site http://web.archive.org/web/20030927160950/http://www.guxiang.com/baixing/liuxing/meishi/200111/200111270064.htm archived site.
Online database, museum holdings of unionoids from Congo and Zambezi Rivers. Images of all specimens. http://clade.acnatsci.org/mussel/proj/congo-zambezi.html
North American Sphaeriid phylogeny http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.ummz.lsa.umich.edu/mollusks/dissertations/taehwan/chapter4.pdf archived site.
Optional parental care in Sphaerium (ABSTRACT) http://pubs.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/cgi-bin/rp/rp2_abst_f?cjz_z00-124_78_ns_nf_cjz
Sibling rivalry among developing Sphaeriid clams (ABSTRACT) http://www.springerlink.com/content/h7arql44rj4bdq26/?p=799bbf0d99f04403bc7b4e0ec505ac40&pi=0
Sphaeriid clams on Prozac (ABSTRACT) http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/abstract/31645/ABSTRACT
GastropodsFreshwater mollusks thought to be extinct in the news! Perhaps the molluscan equivalent of the ivory billed woodpecker. This item was referred to by Jay Leno, May 9, 2005. "...Three snails lost in Alabama have been found! How amazing!? Just how far could they have gone?? They're snails!..." http://web.archive.org/web/20060513162805/http://www.mobileriverbasin.org/snails.htm archived site.
Gastropod identification, discussion, characteristics, habits, from the Freshwater Gastropods of North America project: http://www.cofc.edu/~fwgna/downloads/FMCSGastropodID.pdf
Gastropoda of the Great Lakes; pictures and discussion of all major families: http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/seagrant/GLWL/Benthos/Mollusca/Gastropods/Gastropoda.html
Collecting, specimen preparation, storage, and live culture of freshwater gastropods. http://www.cofc.edu/~dillonr/Dillon_FW_Gast_Chptr.pdf
Burch's Freshwater Snails of North America reference http://nepis.epa.gov/. Hit "simple search" on the left side of the web page that comes up, and enter the number 600382026 in the search box.
Florida freshwater gastropods; comprhensive information on all native species. http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/natsci/malacology/fl-snail/snails1.htm
Best from the Animal Diversity Web.
Great Lakes Gastropoda (by microhabitat) http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Gastropoda.html
Valvatidae http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Valvatidae.html
Planorbidae http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Planorbidae.html
Lymnaeidae http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Lymnaeidae.html
Ancylidae http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Ancylidae.htmlHabits, habitats, anatomy, and biology of freshwater families: http://arnobrosi.tripod.com/snails/aquasnail.html
Apple Snails (Ampullariidae), from the aquarist's viewpoint; their anatomy, behavior, classification, reproduction. Now multilingual. http://www.applesnail.net
Biology and life history of three newly designated endangered pleurocerid snails in the Coosa River drainages, from Federal register. http://web.archive.org/web/20070804231634rn_1/www.fws.gov/endangered/r/fr98651.html archived site
Item in Triannual Unionid Report on reintroductions of Io Fluvialis and other species. Other articles on page.
http://ellipse.inhs.uiuc.edu/FMCS/TUR/TUR16.html#p7Freshwater gastropods of the American Pacific Northwest. Primarily hydrobiidae. Bureau of Land Management site has link to illustrated PDF document, 6.93 Meg. Includes new species. http://www.blm.gov/or/plans/surveyandmanage/Field_Guide/Aquatic_Mollusk/Aquatic_Guide.pdf
Theodoxus fluviatilus makes mollusk of the year in Germany (German site) http://www.mollusken-nrw.de/weichtier_des_jahres/weichtier2004.htm
Observations on Theodoxus fluviatilus.
http://snailstales.blogspot.com/2007/01/new-year-new-snail-theodoxus.htmlStudy of Theodoxus fluviatilis features in Germany and the Baltic. http://www.io-warnemuende.de/bio/workgroups/benthos/dokumente/zettler_et_al-2004-theodoxus.pdf
Endemic Semisulcospira species of Japan's Lake Biwa. http://www.lberi.jp/root/en/10biwako/bkjh03molluscs.htm
Some Lake Baikal snails, Russian site http://zooexcurs.narod.ru/mollusca/gastropoda.htm
One of several pages on the Australian National Museum's site. Links to endangered species, hydrobiid fauna of mound springs, gastropod taxonomy and systematics, Glacidorbis, and other areas of research. http://www.amonline.net.au/invertebrates/mal/ponder_freshwater.htm
Efects of geologic bedrock on Elimia populations (ABSTRACT) http://md1.csa.com/partners/viewrecord.php?requester=gs&collection=ENV&recid=3870455&q=elimia&uid=787107823&setcookie=yes
Effect of diet on Elimia snails (ABSTRACT) http://jnabs.allenpress.com/jnabsonline/?request=get-abstract&issn=0887-3593&volume=19&issue=2&page=289
Pleurocerid molecular phylogeny (ABSTRACT) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=9007026&dopt=Citation
Crayfish induce a defensive shell shape in a freshwater Elimia snails (ABSTRACT) http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1744-7410.2002.tb00063.x
Lavigeria species in Lake Tanganyika http://www.geo.arizona.edu/nyanza/pdf/Michel_etal_2003.pdf
Reclassification of Tanganyika gastropod species http://mollus.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/70/1/1
Movements of Lavigeria in Lake Tanganyika http://mollus.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/eym013v1
Fossil origin and evolution of Tanganyika fauna (ABSTRACT)
http://www.springerlink.com/content/kk80535421151x45/?p=ffa8919956bf4aed870d295cd873c11f&pi=1Tropical and temperate snails in the aquarium, including images of live Tanganyika gastropods, also shrimp, crayfish; French/ English/ Portuguese. http://perso.infonie.be/pomacea/index01_uk.htm
Evolution of Viviparidae in the African Rift Valley (ABSTRACT)
http://www.springerlink.com/content/k09434n203325322/?p=ffa8919956bf4aed870d295cd873c11f&pi=0Origin and maintenance of sexual and parthenogenetic reproduction in a genus of freshwater snails [Viviparidae, Campeloma] in eastern North America. http://web.archive.org/web/20050404052611/http://www.uno.edu/~sgjohnso/sgjwebpa.html archived site
Gastropods (Gyrotoma and Tulotoma) endemic to the Coosa River drainage of Alabama (largely extinct). http://web.archive.org/web/20041029123751/http://biology.usgs.gov/s+t/frame/m2271.htm archived site
Life Cycle of Viviparus contectoides (ABSTRACT) http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/abstract/109914889/ABSTRACT
The Chinese Mystery Snail, introduced into North America. http://web.archive.org/web/20051225184340/http://www.iisgcp.org/EXOTICSP/Oriental_Mystery_Snail.htm archived site
Morphometric analysis of Cipangopaludina opercula and shells http://www.sinica.edu.tw/zool/zoolstud/41.3/321.pdf
Cipangopaludina infected with intestinal fluke parasites (ABSTRACT) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=10577736&dopt=Citation
Ukrainian Bithyniidae http://malacologukraine.narod.ru/Bithyniidae.htm
Snails as parasite vectors, from the World Health Organization. http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/resources/vector337to356.pdf
Freshwater Snails of Africa and their Medical Importance by David Seymour Brown: book online http://books.google.com/books?id=iX81vNPrs_4C&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_summary_r&cad=0
Melanopsidae, here referred to as "pitch" snails: http://www.weichtiere.at/english/gastropoda/freshwater/melanopsidae.html
Melanopsis in the aquarium and linked pages on other superfamilies, families, and species accessable under "schnecken" in this comprehensive German site, some English. http://www.allesumdieschneck.de/html/melanopsis_praemorsa_english.html
Valvatidae, section of the above website; excellent photos, links, references. German site.
http://www.allesumdieschneck.de/html/valvatidae.html
Valvatidae: http://www.weichtiere.at/english/gastropoda/freshwater/valvatidae.htmlPlanorbidae, Lymnaeidae and Physidae of Peru http://memorias.ioc.fiocruz.br/986/4864.pdf
Physidae http://www.cofc.edu/~fwgna/downloads/Amys_Physidae_Supplement.pdf
Lymnaeidae: http://www.weichtiere.at/english/gastropoda/freshwater/lymnaea.html
Freshwater limpets, European: http://www.weichtiere.at/english/gastropoda/freshwater/freshwater_limpets.html
Regional (with both clams and snails)
British Columbia endangered mollusks http://web.archive.org/web/20060415090631/http://wlapwww.gov.bc.ca/wld/documents/mollusc.pdf archived site
Lake Tanganyika shells http://tanganyika-cichlids.com/mollusques.htm
Aquaculture potential of snails (Pomacea sp.) and clams (Anodontites sp.) in the Amazon region: http://pdacrsp.oregonstate.edu/aquanews/fall2002/p12.html
Central American non-marine mollusca, classic Von Martens reference online; http://www.sil.si.edu/digitalcollections/bca/navigation/bca_06_00_00/bca_06_00_00select.cfm
Pilsbry, H. A. 1911. Non-marine mollusca of Patagonia. Reports of the Princeton University Expedition to Patagonia, 1896-1899 vol. 3. pp 513-633 + 14 plates. Online at http://www.archive.org/details/nonmarinemollusc00pils
Land and freshwater mollusks of Austria; neat fossil melanopsidae, landsnail and habitat photos: http://ipp.boku.ac.at/private/wf/index.html
European landsnails, aquatic pulmonates, marine shells. Excellent microphotographs. http://nisters.tirolkultur.at/
Pilsbry, H. A, and Bequaert, J. 1927 African freshwater mollusca reference. Placed online by the AMNH at http://diglib1.amnh.org/cgi-bin/database/scipubs.cgi?page_no=2&pagemode=index&document_id=76&submit.x=20&submit.y=12 site comes in, but no content; Feb 2011.
Lower Tigris and Euphrates regions, Iraq, recent mollusca: http://paleopolis.rediris.es/cg/CG2005_A01/
General, and relatedTranslation in the Georgian Language http://theautoz.com/blog/freshwater-molluscan-shells/ New, August 2015.
Translation in the Belarusian Language http://www.besteonderdelen.nl/blog/?p=7855 New, September 2015.
Freshwater ecoregions of the World http://www.feow.org/
German site, Pachymelania, Neritina, Septaria Melanoides in the aquarium. http://www.wirbellose-nrw.de/D/Schnecken.htm
Freshwater Molluscan Art. Beautiful portrayal of Lake Erie freshwater mollusks, or any you might want: http://pinicola.ca/drifted.htm
All aspects of shells, shelling, and mollusks: http://www.manandmollusc.net/
Worldwide freshwater biodiversity sites, tabulated data from the U.N. Environmental Programme- World Conservation Monitoring Centre. Fish, crabs, molluscs. http://www.unep-wcmc.org/information_services/publications/freshwater/4_table.htm
Freshwater mollusks on postage stamps. Examples in margaritiferidae, unionidae, neritidae, viviparidae, ampullariidae, planorbidae, lymnaeidae and hydrobiidae. Search page: http://www.conchology.be/?t=43
Screensavers: World freshwater mussels, snails. Wonderful pics by Tom Watters (I wish I had) in random slide show format. http://www.biosci.ohio-state.edu/~molluscs/OSUM2/screensavers.htm. Images missing, but linked .SCR files still available. Feb 2011.
The Freshwater Mollusk Conservation Society: Devoted to advocacy, education, and conservation science of freshwater mollusks. http://ellipse.inhs.uiuc.edu/FMCS/
The Nature Conservancy, an organization doing more towards preserving habitat for mussels, other invertebrates, and plants. http://www.tnc.org/
Online bibliographic database, by Kevin Cummings, Art Bogan, Tom Watters, and Chris Mayer.
http://ellipse.inhs.uiuc.edu:591/mollusk/biblio.htmlAnother project, the Gray Fossil Site; Miocene vertebrate fossils in Tennessee--tapirs: http://Graysite1.net/.
Other projects and photos: http://photos.mkohl1.net.
The Altamaha River on the Georgia coastal plain, United States. The areas tucked in behind the sand bars are most favorable for unionaceans, sphaericeans, viviparids, pleurocerids, and a few BIG alligators.