Estado de conocimiento de los bivalvos dulceacuicolas de Chile

Abstract

The current knowledge about the Chilean freshwater bivalves is presented. The bivalves described at present are adscribed to two families: Hyriidae represented only by the genus Diplodon with two species (D. chilensis and D. solidulus) and Sphaeriidae represented by three genera: Pisidium with seven species (P. chilense, P. magellanicum, P. lebruni, P. observationis, P. meierbrooki, P. huillichum and P. llanquihuense), Sphaerium with two species (S. lauricochae and S. forbesi), and Musculium with two species (M. argentinum and M. patagonicum). Subgeneric and subspecific taxa are recognized for Hyriidae only. Pisidium chilense, P. huillichum, P. llanquihuense P. lebruni and D. solidulus are proposed as endemic species for Chile. It is allocated the geographic distribution of the species, the taxonomic implications of the phenotypic variations exhibited by hyrids, the causes of the declination of the populations and the lack of knowledge in both families are analyzed. Specialists on the field and the available collections are listed.