Margaritifera auricularia


Margaritifera auricularia, or Spengler's freshwater mussel, is a species of European freshwater mussel, an aquatic bivalve mollusk in the family Margaritiferidae, the freshwater pearl mussels. It is named after Lorenz Spengler.

Description

Large shells are up to 180 mm in length.

Taxonomy

There are different opinions on the taxonomy of this species.
The species was originally described as Unio auricularius Spengler, 1793.
When it is placed in the genus Margaritifera Schumacher, 1816, it is considered to be:
At other times it is placed in the genus Pseudunio F. Haas, 1910, in which case it is known as:
Sometimes it is given the masculine gender:
It is found in:
The fish hosts for the glochidium larvae of this species are: Salaria fluviatilis, Gambusia holbrooki, Acipenser baerii, Acipenser naccarii and Acipenser sturio.
The hosts for this species were unknown for a long time: as recently as 1998 they were still not known.