This species reaches about 120 mm in length and is distinguished from other Alathyria species in its rounded, winged shell with a height/length ratio of 55-60%.
Glochidia lack a larval filament. Glochidia shells are smooth and dotted with pores, are sub-triangular with an angle of obliquity of 8.5°, have an average length of 238-245 μm, average height of 200-204 μm, average hinge length of 159-165 μm and singular sigmoidal (s-shaped) hooks on each valve that are each around 40 μm in length.
Alathyria profuga (Gould, 1850)
Common name: Freshwater mussel
Class Bivalvia
Infraclass Heteroconchia
Cohort Palaeoheterodonta
Order Unionida
Superfamily Unionoidea
Family Hyriidae
Subfamily Velesunioninae
Genus Alathyria Iredale, 1934
Original name: Unio profugus Gould, 1850. Gould, A. (1850). In Proceedings for May 18th, 1850. Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History 3: 292-296.
Type locality: Hunter (as Hunter's) River, New South Wales.
Synonym: Alathyria vadena 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.
Shallow burrower in sand/mud in permant flowing rivers where it prefers moderately strong currents. Suspension feeder.
Larvae (glochidia) are brooded in marsupia in the female's gills and, when released and become parasitic on fish gills and/or fins where they undergo metamorphosis before dropping to the sediment as free-living juvenile mussels. A range of fish species act as hosts (H. Jones, pers. comm.).
This species lives on average for about 25-35 years (Herath et al. 2018).
Shoalhaven, Hunter, Karuah and Manning River systems, New South Wales.
Beesley, P. L., Ross, G. J. B. & Wells, A., Eds. (1998). Mollusca: The Southern Synthesis. Parts A & B. Melbourne, CSIRO Publishing.
Graf, D. L., Jones, H. A., Geneva, A. J., Pfeiffer, J. M. III & Klunzinger, M. W. (2015). Molecular phylogenetic analysis supports a Gondwanan origin of the Hyriidae (Mollusca: Bivalvia: Unionida) and the paraphyly of Australasian taxa. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 85: 1-9.
Herath, D., Jacob, D.E. & Fallon, S.J. (2018). Potential of shells of three species of eastern Australian freshwater mussels (Bivalvia: Hyriidae) as environmental proxy archives. Marine & Freshwater Research 70: 255-269.
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., Simpson, R. D. & Humphrey, C. L. (1986). The reproductive cycles and glochidia of fresh-water mussels (Bivalvia: Hyriidae) of the Macleay River, Northern New South Wales, Australia. Malacologia 27: 185-202.
Jones, H. A. & Byrne, M. (2014). Changes in the distributions of freshwater mussels (Unionoida: Hyriidae) in coastal southeastern Australia and implications for their conservation status. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 24: 203-217.
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.
Lamprell, K. & Healy, J. (1998). Bivalves of Australia, volume 2. Leiden, Backhuys Publishers.
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.
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. (1981). 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.
