Dreissena polymorpha

Wesselingh, Frank, Poorten, Jan Johan ter, Kijashko, Pavel, Albrecht, Christian, Anistratenko, Olga Yu, Frolov, Pavel, Gándara, Alberto Martinez, Gittenberger, Arjan, Gogaladze, Aleksandre, Mikhail Karpinsky, Popa, Luis, Sands, Arthur F, Vandendorpe, Justine & Wilke, Thomas, 2019, Mollusc species from the Pontocaspian region - an expert opinion list, ZooKeys 827, pp. 31-124 : 58-59

Dreissena polymorpha (Pallas, 1771) s.l.

*1771 Mytilus polymorphus Pallas: 368, 435, 478.

1897 Dreissensia Andrusovi Andrusov: 374-376 pl. 18, figs 21-23.

1897 Dreissensia Pallasi Andrusov: 671-672, pl. 20, figs 33-35.

1897 Dreissensia polymorpha var. aralensis Andrusov: 354-355.

1897 Dreissensia polymorpha var. obtusecarinata Andrusov: 354.

1994 Dreissena polymorpha (Pallas, 1771). - Rosenberg and Ludyanskiy: 1480-1482, fig. 3a, b.

1994 Dreissena polymorpha aralensis Andrusov, 1897. - Rosenberg and Ludyanskiy: 1480, fig. 3c.

1994 Dreissena polymorpha obtusecarinata Andrusov, 1897. - Rosenberg and Ludyanskiy: 1481, fig. 3d.

1994 Dreissena caspia pallasi Andrusov, 1897. - Rosenberg and Ludyanskiy: 1482, fig. 3f.

2003 Dreissena caspia pallasi (Andrusov, 1897). - Andreeva and Andreev: 80, fig. 4.1(7-9).

2003 Dreissena polymorpha aralensis (Andrusov, 1897). - Andreeva and Andreev: 79, fig. 4.1(1-3).

2003 Dreissena obtusecarinata (Andrusov, 1897). - Andreeva and Andreev: 80, fig. 4.1(4-6).

2013 Dreissena (Dreissena) polymorpha (Andrusov, 1897). - Kijashko in Bogutskaya et al.: 328, fig 118a [pars, status fig. 118b uncertain].

2016 Dreissena (Dreissena) polymorpha polymorpha (Andrusov, 1897). - Vinarski and Kantor: 75.

?2016 Dreissena (Dreissena) polymorpha andrusovi (Brusina in Andrusov, 1897). - Vinarski and Kantor: 75.

?2016 Dreissena (Dreissena) polymorpha aralensis (Andrusov, 1897). - Vinarski and Kantor: 75.

?2016 Dreissena (Dreissena) polymorpha obtusecarinata (Andrusov, 1897). - Vinarski and Kantor: 76.

?2016 Dreissena (Dreissena) caspia pallasi (Andrusov, 1897). - Vinarski and Kantor: 7.

Status. Native Pontocaspian species.

Type locality. Volga and Yaik (Ural) rivers, Caspian Sea.

Distribution. Eurasian (native and invasive), North America (invasive) rivers, lakes, estuaries, deltas ( Rosenberg and Ludyanskiy 1994, Cummings and Graf 2015, Coughlan et al. 2017). Several unique forms/species within this group reported from the Pontocaspian region.

Taxonomic notes. Dreissena polymorpha has been subject of intense DNA and ecological studies, but rarely were Caspian communities involved. Combined insights into the shell morphology, ecology, and molecular biology has to date not fully resolved several aspects of Pontocaspian records of this species. Occurrences in rivers and deltas of the Pontocaspian region are consistently attributed to Dreissena polymorpha . However, slightly deviating morphs exist(ed) in salinities typically not favoured by D. polymorpha elsewhere in the Caspian and Aral seas. A particular form of Dreissena polymorpha , documented by Kijashko in Bogutskaya et al. (2013), viz. D. polymorpha andrusovi (his figure 118b) will need further study as it has many morphological similarities with D. caspia (including general shape, location of semidiameter, and broad flat shape of hinge platform).

Conservation status. Least Concern ( Van Damme 2014).