This species has a sub-oval (height/length index 55-60%) shell, with its anterior end comparatively narrow and the ventral edge more or less straight; maximum length about 200 mm; posterior dorsal margin winged in moderate currents, arched in strong currents; strong hinge, pseudocardinals erect and denticulate.
Alathyria jacksoni Iredale, 1934
Common name: River mussel
Infraclass Heteroconchia
Cohort Palaeoheterodonta
Order Unionida
Superfamily Unionoidea
Family Hyriidae
Subfamily Velesunioninae
Genus Alathyria Iredale, 1934
Original name: Alathyria jacksoni Iredale, 1934. In Iredale, T. (1934). The freshwater mussels of Australia. Australian Zoologist 8: 57-78.
Type locality: Barwon River, New South Wales.
Synonyms: Alathyria jacksoni allani Iredale, 1943. Alathyria selwyni Iredale, 1943.
The last major taxonomic revision of Australian freshwater mussels was conducted by McMichael & Hiscock (1958). Based on recent molecular results, Walker et al. (2014) suggested that a reassessment of Australian hyriids is needed.
Main channels of the Murray-Darling River system in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. Shallow burrower in silty mud and sand in rivers and creeks, generally in flowing water.
Suspension feeder. Larvae (glochidia) are brooded in marsupia in the gills of females and, when released, become parasitic on fish gills and fins where they undergo metamorphosis before dropping to the sediment as free-living juvenile mussels. This species occurs as different growth forms in moderate to strong currents: the moderate current form has a distinct dorsal blade or 'wing', whereas the fast current form has a dorsal arch, apparently permitting greater foot extension and a more secure anchorage (Balla & Walker, 1991).
Permanent lower sections of rivers in Murray-Darling Basin in Queensland, New South Wales, and Victoria.
There are two growth forms of Alathyria jacksoni, one being found in strong currents and has a pronounced dorsal arch (and a ventral sinuation in larger specimens) while shells from more moderate currents have a straight dorsal margin and the wing development is variable. The two forms intergrades are common (Walker 1981).
Balla, S. A. & Walker, K. F. (1991). Shape variation in the Australian freshwater mussel Alathyria jacksoni Iredale (Bivalvia, Hyriidae). Hydrobiologia 220: 89-98.
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Haas, F. (1969). Superfamilia Unionacea. Das Terreich, 88 (1-10), 1-663.
Iredale, T. (1934). The freshwater mussels of Australia. Australian Zoologist 8: 57-78 pls 3-6.
Iredale, T. (1943). A basic list of the fresh water Mollusca of Australia. Australian Zoologist 10: 188-230.
Jones, H. A. (2007). The influence of hydrology on freshwater mussel (Bivalvia: Hyriidae) distributions in a semi-arid river system, the Barwon-Darling River and intersecting streams.in C. Dickman, D. Lunney, and S. Burgin (eds.). Animals of Arid Australia: Out On Their Own? Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales, Mosman, Australia.
Köhler, F. 2011. Alathyria jacksoni. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2011: e.T188900A8659847. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2011-2.RLTS.T188900A8659847.en.
Lamprell, K. & Healy, J. (1998). Bivalves of Australia, volume 2. Leiden, Backhuys Publishers.
Mallen-Cooper, M. & Zampatti, B. P. (2020). Restoring the ecological integrity of a dryland river: Why low flows in the Barwon–Darling River must flow. Ecological Management and Restoration 21: 218-228.
McCasker, N. & Humphries, P. (2021). Hyriid mussels (Unionoida) enhance benthic organic matter and meiofauna densities in a temperate Australian river. Freshwater Biology 66: 936-948.
McMichael, D. F. & Hiscock, I. D. (1958). A monograph of the freshwater mussels (Mollusca: Pelecypoda) of the Australian region. Australian Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research 9: 372-508.
Negri, A. P. & Jones, G. J. (1995). Bioaccumulation of paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) toxins from the cyanobacterium Anabaena circinalis by the freshwater mussel Alathyria condola. Toxicon 33: 667-678.
Sheldon, F., McCasker, N., Hobbs, M., Humphries, P., Jones, H., Klunzinger, M. & Kennard, M. (2020). Habitat and flow requirements of freshwater mussels in the northern Murray-Darling Basin. Report to the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder. Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith University and Institute of Land, Water and Society, Charles Sturt University.
Sheldon, F. & Walker, K. F. (1989). Effects of hypoxia on oxygen consumption by two species of freshwater mussel (Unionacea: Hyriidae) from the River Murray [Australia]. Australian Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research 40: 491-499
Smith, B. J. & Kershaw, R. C. (1979). Field guide to the non-marine Molluscs of South-eastern Australia. Canberra, A.N.U. Press
Walker, K. F. (1981a). The ecology of freshwater mussels in the River Murray. Australian Water Research Council Technical Papers 63: 1-119.
Walker, K. F. (1981b). The distribution of freshwater mussels (Mollusca: Pelecypoda) in the Australian zoogeographic region. Pp. 1233-1249 in A. Keast. Ecological Biogeography of Australia. The Hague, Dr W. Junk.
Walker, K. F. (2004). A guide to the provisional identification of the freshwater mussels (Unionoida) of Australasia. Albury, Murray Darling Freshwater Research Centre.
Walker, K. F., Byrne, M., Hickey, C. W. & Roper, D. S. (2001). Freshwater Mussels (Hyriidae) of Australasia. Pp. 5-31 in G. Bauer & Wächtler, K. Ecology and Evolution of the Freshwater Mussels Unionoida. Ecological Studies. Berlin, Springer-Verlag.
Walker, K. F., Jones, H. A. & Klunzinger, M. W. (2014). Bivalves in a bottleneck: taxonomy, phylogeography and conservation of freshwater mussels (Bivalvia: Unionoida) in Australasia. Hydrobiologia 735:61–79.
Wright, D., Thiem, J., Blackman, E., Beatty, S., Lymbery, A., Davis, S. (2022). Desiccation tolerance of river and floodplain mussels in the Murray-Darling Basin. NSW DPI Technical Report to the Commonwealth Environmental Water Office.
