Scientists of the Federal Research Center for Integrated Arctic Studies of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences have identified two genera and discovered four new species of freshwater mollusks of the Sphaeriinae subfamily.
Spheriines, small bivalve mollusks widely distributed in freshwater bodies of different continents, play an important role in ecosystems: they perform biofiltration of water and serve as a food source for fish and birds.
Spheriines are considered one of the few groups of bivalves that have adapted to the conditions of the Arctic, gazeta.ru writes with reference to the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia.
Due to the short Arctic summer lasting just over two months, the mollusks begin breeding process later and finish it earlier.
Until now, the taxonomy of these mollusks has been controversial. The study allowed to resolve the contradictions. As a result of a large-scale revision of scientific data, four new species have been described. They were found in the Kolyma River basin, in the reservoirs of the Caucasus, Kyrgyzstan and Morocco.
Zoologists have also found out that the group of spheriines formed about 126 million years ago on the territory of modern China, then began to settle.
Alex Shishlo for Rough&Polished
