Belongs within: Neoheterodontei.
Contains: Sphaerium.
The Sphaeriidae is a family of small freshwater bivalves, first definitely recorded from the Cretaceous. They live attached to a substrate by a number of mucous threads; because of their small size, potential substrates may include other invertebrates or the surface water film as well as aquatic plants or rocks.
In the cosmopolitan genus Pisidium, the beak is behind the middle of the valve so the almost wholly immersed ligament is on the shorter end of the hinge (Pilsbry & Bequaert 1927). Eupera, found in the Neotropics and Africa, has fragile valves with the beak well in front of the midline (Pilsbry & Bequaert 1927).
Characters (from Pilsbry & Bequaert 1927): Shell oval, squarish, or subtriangular, of small or minute size, rather thin, porcelanous within, the adductor scars not impressed. Pallial line simple. Hinge curved, narrow, with anterior and posterior lateral teeth in both valves; cardinals very small, not more than two in each valve; those of the right valve united into an inverted V or a straight lamella; those of the left valve wholly separate, the posterior obliquely above the anterior (or sometimes absent); ligament narrowly exposed or more or less completely immersed. Mantle margins united posteriorly to form siphons. Viviparous and hermaphroditic.
Sphaeriidae [Cycladae, Cycladia, Pisidiadae, Pisidiidae, Sphaeridae, Sphaerioidea]
|--+--SphaeriumTW07
| `--MusculiumTW07
| |--M. heterodonT59
| |--M. lacustre (Muller 1774)TW07 (see below for synonymy)
| | |--M. l. lacustreB65
| | `--‘Sphaerium’ l. ryckholtiB65
| |--M. partumeiumT63 [=Sphaerium partumeiumT63; incl. M. truncatumH64]
| |--M. securis (Prime 1852)KM88 [=Sphaerium securisH65]
| `--M. transversum (Say 1829)KM88 [=Sphaerium transversumH65]
`--Pisidium Pfeiffer 1821TW07, BV86 [incl. Pseudeupera Germain 1913PB27]
| i. s.: P. abditumW79 (see below for synonymy)
| P. adamsiW79
| P. aequilateraleW79
| P. asliniBRW98
| P. aucklandica Suter 1907P61
| P. casertanum (Poli 1795)KM88 [incl. P. casertanum var. thermalePB27]
| P. cinereumG40 [=P. fontinale var. cinereaA79]
| P. compressum [incl. P. kirklandi]PF15
| P. conventusT59
| P. dubium (Say 1816)KM88
| P. dulvertonensis Tennison Woods 1875P79
| P. ferrugineum (Prime 1852)KM88
| P. giraudi Bourguignat 1885PB27
| P. henslowanum (Sheppard 1825)KM88 (see below for synonymy)
| P. hermosum Bourguignat 1888PB27
| P. hodgkini Suter 1905P61
| P. katangense Pilsbry & Bequaert 1927PB27
| P. kenianum Preston 1911PB27
| P. landeroini Germain 1909 [=P. (*Pseudeupera) landeroini]PB27
| P. langleyanum Melvill & Ponsonby 1891PB27
| P. lilljeborgi (Esmark & Hoyer 1886)KM88
| P. nitidum (Jenyns 1832)KM88
| P. novaezelandiae Prime 1862P61
| P. obtusale (Lamarck 1818)TW07 (see below for synonymy)
| |--P. o. obtusaleB65
| `--P. o. robustaB65
| P. occidentale Newcomb 1861C64
| P. ovampicum Ancey 1890PB27
| P. pauperculumPF15
| P. personatumT63
| P. pirothi Jickeli 1881PB27
| P. pusillumG40 (see below for synonymy)
| P. punctatum (Sterki 1895)KM88
| P. punctiferumH65
| P. randolphiiE68
| P. ruwenzoriense Germain 1911PB27
| P. supinumH65
| P. tasmanicum Tennison Woods 1875P79
| P. tenuilineatumH65
| P. variabile (Prime 1852)KM88
| P. ventricosum [incl. P. rotundatum]H65
| P. walkeri (Sterki 1895)KM88
|--P. (Pisidium)BV86
| |--*P. (P.) amnicumP61 (see below for synonymy)
| |--P. (P.) cavaticum Shadin 1952BV86
| |--P. (P.) ljovuschkini Starobogatov 1962BV86
| `--P. (P.) subterraneum Shadin 1932BV86
`--P. (Neopisidium Odhner 1921)BV86
`--P. (N.) cavernicum Mori 1938BV86
Sphaeriidae incertae sedis:
Eupera Bourguignat 1854 [incl. Clessinella Waagen 1905, Limosina Clessin 1872; Euperinae]PB27
|--‘Cyclas’ modioliformis [=*Limosina modioliformis; incl. Pisidium moquinianum, *Eupera moquiniana]PB27
|--E. bequaerti Dautzenberg & Germain 1914PB27
|--E. cubensisG88
|--E. ferruginea (Krauss 1848) [=Cyclas ferruginea, Limosina ferruginea]PB27
|--E. letourneuxi Bourguignat 1883PB27
|--E. mediafricana Pilsbry & Bequaert 1927PB27
| |--E. m. mediafricanaPB27
| `--E. m. etheriarum Pilsbry & Bequaert 1927PB27
|--E. parasitica (Parreyss in Deshayes 1854) (see below for synonymy)PB27
|--E. platensisH63
|--E. sinensis Odhner 1922PB27
|--E. singleyiH66
`--E. sturanyi (Waagen 1905) [=Sphaerium (*Clessinella) sturanyi]PB27
Pseudocorbicula Dautzenberg 1908PB27
`--*P. alluaudi Dautzenberg 1908PB27
ByssanodontaH63
Sphaerinova Iredale 1943BRW98
Australpera Iredale 1943BRW98
Glacipisum Iredale 1943BRW98
Eupera parasitica (Parreyss in Deshayes 1854) [=Pisum parasiticum, Limosina parasitica; incl. Eupera jickelii Bourguignat 1883]PB27
Musculium lacustre (Muller 1774)TW07 [=Cardium lacustreG40, Cyclas lacustrisG40, Sphaerium lacustreH65, Tellina lacustrisG40; incl. Cy. calyculataG40]
Pisidium abditumW79 [incl. P. abditum var. abyssorum Stimpson in Walker 1879 (n. n.)W79, P. amplumC64, P. kurtziiC64, Cyclas minor Ad. 1841C64, P. notatum Pr. 1852C64, P. obscurum Pr. 1851C64, P. plenumC64, P. regulare Pr. 1852C64, P. resartumC64, P. retusum Pr. 1859C64, P. rubrumC64, P. zonatumC64]
Pisidium henslowanum (Sheppard 1825)KM88 [=Pera henslowianaG40, Tellina henslowianaG40; incl. Cyclas appendiculataG40, Pera appendiculataG40]
Pisidium obtusale (Lamarck 1818)TW07 [=Cyclas obtusaleG40, C. obtusalisG40, Pisidium pusillum var. obtusalisA79; incl. Pera gibba Leach msG40]
Pisidium pusillumG40 [=Tellina pusillaPB27, Corneocyclas pusillaPB27, Cyclas pusillaG40; incl. Cy. gibbaG40, Euglesa henslowiana Leach msG40]
*Pisidium (Pisidium) amnicumP61 [=Tellina amnicaP61, Cardium amnicumG40, Cyclas amnicaG40; incl. Pera fluviatilisG40, Cy. obliquaG40, Pisidium obliquumG40, Cy. palustrisG40]
*Type species of generic name indicated
References
[A79] Ashford, C. 1879. Land and freshwater shells observed in the neighborhood of Redcar. Journal of Conchology 2: 236–241.
[BRW98] Beesley, P. L., G. J. B. Ross & A. Wells (eds) 1998. Fauna of Australia vol. 5. Mollusca: The Southern Synthesis. Part A. Australian Biological Resources Study: Canberra.
[B65] Beetle, D. E. 1965. Molluscan fauna of some small ponds in Grand Teton National Park. Nautilus 78 (4): 125–130.
[BV86] Bole, J., & F. Velkovrh. 1986. Mollusca from continental subterranean aquatic habitats. In: Botosaneanu, L. (ed.) Stygofauna Mundi: A Faunistic, Distributional, and Ecological Synthesis of the World Fauna inhabiting Subterranean Waters (including the Marine Interstitial) pp. 177–208. E. J. Brill/Dr W. Backhuys: Leiden.
[C64] Carpenter, P. P. 1864. Supplementary report on the present state of our knowledge with regard to the Mollusca of the west coast of North America. Report of the British Association for the Advancement of Science 33: 517–686.
[E68] Eyerdam, W. J. 1968. Fresh-water mollusks eaten by trout and other fish. Nautilus 81 (3): 103–104.
[G40] Gray, J. E. 1840. A Manual of the Land and Fresh-water Shells of the British Islands, with figures of each of the kinds. By William Turton, M.D. A new edition, thoroughly revised and much enlarged. Longman, Orme, Brown, Green, and Longmans: London.
[G88] Gray, J. 1988. Evolution of the freshwater ecosystem: the fossil record. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 62: 1–214.
[H64] Heard, W. H. 1964. Litter size in the Sphaeriidae. Nautilus 78 (2): 47–49.
[H65] Herrington, H. B. 1965. Corrections of sphaeriid nomenclature. Nautilus 79 (2): 42–45.
[H66] Hubricht, L. 1966. Habitat of Eupera singleyi Pilsbry. Nautilus 80 (1): 33.
[KM88] Kilgour, B. W., & G. L. Mackie. 1988. Factors affecting the distribution of sphaeriid bivalves in Brittania Bay of the Ottawa River. Nautilus 102 (2): 73–77.
[P79] Petterd, W. F. 1879. List of the freshwater shells of Tasmania. Journal of Conchology 2: 80–88.
[PB27] Pilsbry, H. A., & J. Bequaert. 1927. The aquatic mollusks of the Belgian Congo, with a geographical and ecological account of Congo malacology. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 53 (2): 69–602, pls 10–77.
[PF15] Pilsbry, H. A., & J. H. Ferriss. 1915. Mollusca of the southwestern states, VII: the Dragoon, Mule, Santa Rita, Baboquivari, and Tucson Ranges, Arizona. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 67 (2): 363–418, pls 8–15.
[P61] Powell, A. W. B. 1961. Shells of New Zealand: An illustrated handbook 4th ed. Whitcombe and Tombs Limited: Christchurch.
[TW07] Taylor, J. D., S. T. Williams, E. A. Glover & P. Dyal. 2007. A molecular phylogeny of heterodont bivalves (Mollusca: Bivalvia: Heterodonta): new analyses of 18S and 28S rRNA genes. Zoologica Scripta 36 (6): 587–606.
[T59] Thomas, G. J. 1959. Self-fertilization and production of young in a sphaeriid clam. Nautilus 72 (4): 131–140.
[T63] Thomas, G. J. 1963. Study of a population of sphaeriid clams in a temporary pond. Nautilus 77 (2): 37–43.
[W79] Walker, B. 1879. Catalogue of the shell-bearing Mollusca of Michigan. Journal of Conchology 2: 325–337.