Genus Mytilus Linnaeus, 1758

Museums

Regional Maps

• Mytilus Linnaeus, C. 1758. Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundem classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentis, synonymis, locis. Editio decima, reformata. Holmiae : Laurentii Salvii Vol. 1 10, 824 pp. [645, 704].

  Type species:

   Mytilus edulis Linnaeus, 1758 by subsequent designation, see Gray, J.E. 1847. A list of the Genera of Recent Mollusca, their Synonyms and Types. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 15: 129-242 [198].
• Eumytilus Ihering, H. von 1900. On the South American species of Mytilidae. Proceedings of the Malacological Society 4: 84-98 [86].

  Type species:

   Mytilus edulis Linnaeus, 1758 by original designation.
• Crassimytilus Scarlato, O.A. & Starobogatov, Ya.I. 1979. Polozhenie v sisteme i rasprostranenie midii [The systematic position and distribution of mussels]. pp. 106-111 in Scarlato, O.A. (ed.). Promyslovye dvustvorchatye mollyuski-midii i ikh rol' v ekosistemakh [Commercial bivalve molluscan mussels and their role in the ecosystem]. Leningrad : Zoological Institute of the Soviet Academy of Sciences. [108].

  Type species:

   Mytilus coruscus Gould, 1861 by original designation.
• Pacifimytilus Kafanov, 1984 [Tezisy Dokladov vsesojuznogo soveshchanija po temei: Morfologija, sistematika, filogenija i ekogenez dvustvorchatykh molljuskov p. 44].

  Type species:

   Mytilus californianus Conrad, 1837 by original designation.

 

Introduction

Genetic studies suggest that Southern Hemiphere mussels of the genus Mytilus include an old endemic lineage represented by Mytilus planulatus and more recent invasive genetic elements derived from Northern Hemisphere elements, including M. galloprovincialis and M. edulus. The characterisation of the group in Australia is not yet resolved.

 

Distribution

States

New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia

Extra Distribution Information

Worldwide distribution

IBRA and IMCRA regions

IMCRA

Macquarie Island Province (24), Southwest Shelf Transition (30), Southwest Shelf Province (31), Great Australian Bight Shelf Transition (32), Spencer Gulf Shelf Province (33), Western Bass Strait Shelf Transition (34), Bass Strait Shelf Province (35), Tasmanian Shelf Province (36), Southeast Shelf Transition (37)

General References

Huber, M. 2010. Compendium of Bivalves. A full-color guide to 3,300 of the world's marine bivalves. A status on Bivalvia after 250 years of research. Hackenheim, Germany : ConchBooks 901 pp., 1 CD-ROM.

Iredale, T. & McMichael, D.F. 1962. A reference list of the marine Mollusca of New South Wales. Memoirs of the Australian Museum 11: 1–109 [13]

Koehn, R. K. 1991. The genetics and taxonomy of species in the genus Mytilus. Aquaculture 94: 125-145 [125-145] (suggests that only Mytilus galloprovincialis exists in Australia)

Moore, R.C. (ed.) 1969. Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology. Part N. Mollusca 6. Bivalvia. Boulder, Colorado & Lawrence, Kansas : Geological Society of America & University of Kansas Press Vols 1 & 2 xxxviii + ii, 952 pp. [Vol.1, pp. i-xxxviii + N1-N489; Vol. 2, pp. i-ii + N491-N952] [N271]

Seed, R. 1992. Systematics, evolution and distribution of mussels belonging to the genus Mytilus: an overview. American Malacological Bulletin 9: 123-137 [135] (presents alternative taxonomic arrangement with Mytilus planulatus a synonym of M. galloprovincialis. The former is a senior name, by page priority, and will have priority if synonymised)

 

History of changes

Published	As part of group	Action Date	Action Type	Compiler(s)
22-Aug-2023	BIVALVIA	22-Aug-2023	MOVED	Mr Des Beechey Ingo Burghardt Ms Anouk Mututantri (AM)
22-Sep-2010		22-Sep-2010	MOVED
		11-Aug-2010	MODIFIED