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.
Glochidia have a larval filament, smooth shells dotted with pores that are sub-triangular with an angle of obliquity of 5°, have an average length of 272 μm, average height of 210 μm, average hinge length of 173 μm and singular sigmoidal (s-shaped) hooks on each valve that are each around 50 μm in length. Glochidia are released in amorphous mucous conglutinates that dissociate in water.
Alathyria jacksoni Iredale, 1934
Common name: Murray-Darling River mussel
Class Bivalvia
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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Iredale, T. (1934). The freshwater mussels of Australia. Australian Zoologist 8: 57-78 pls 3-6.
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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.
Klunzinger, M. W., Jones, H.A., Humphrey, C. L., Melchior, M., Raadik, T.A., Treby, S., Chandler, L. & Sheldon, F. (2023). Comparative diversity in glochidia of Australasian freshwater mussels. Frontiers in Environmental Science 12: 1305077.
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.
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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
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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.
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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. (2024). Differences in desiccation tolerance of two Australian freshwater mussel species with different life history characteristics is temperature dependent. Hydrobiologia https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-024-05570-x
