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OPEN
Received: 31 July 2018
Accepted: 18 October 2018
Published: xx xx xxxx
Discovery of Novaculina
myanmarensis sp. nov. (Bivalvia:
Pharidae: Pharellinae) closes the
freshwater razor clams range
disjunction in Southeast Asia
Ivan N. Bolotov 1,2, Ilya V. Vikhrev1,2, Manuel Lopes-Lima3,4, Zau Lunn5, Nyein Chan5,
Than Win 6, Olga V. Aksenova1,2, Mikhail Yu. Gofarov1,2, Alexander V. Kondakov1,2,
Ekaterina S. Konopleva1,2 & Sakboworn Tumpeesuwan7
The razor clam genus Novaculina represents an example of a marine-derived, secondary freshwater
group. It was thought to comprise three species: N. gangetica (Ganges and smaller basins in Bangladesh
and northwestern Myanmar), N. siamensis (Bang Pakong and Pasak rivers in Thailand and Mekong River
in Vietnam), and N. chinensis (lower Yangtze River, China). Here we describe Novaculina myanmarensis
sp. nov., an additional species from the Ayeyarwady and Salween basins representing a divergent
lineage that appears to be sister to N. gangetica. This new record closes a Novaculina range disjunction
between northwestern Myanmar and Thailand. The populations of this novel species share a shallow
molecular divergence from each other indicating potential dispersal events between the two distant
freshwater basins during the Late Pleistocene. Our ancestral area modeling suggests that the MRCA
of Novaculina crown group was a salt-tolerant freshwater species. The recent Novaculina species most
likely originated via allopatric speciation. Our findings highlight that generalist estuarine species could
have played the role as a source for bivalve expansions into freshwater and that western Indochina is a
separate biogeographic subregion, which is clearly distinct from India. A new synonymy is proposed as
follows: Pharellinae Stoliczka, 1870 = Novaculininae Ghosh, 1920 syn. nov.
Freshwater bivalves are a taxonomically diverse ecological group, which includes representatives of at least 19
families1,2. Unionida is the only strictly freshwater order among Bivalvia representing a monophyletic entity with
six families, i.e. Unionidae, Margaritiferidae, Etheriidae, Iridinidae, and Mulleriidae2,3. However, several other
orders have small to large radiations in freshwater, e.g. Venerida, which includes families such as Cyrenidae,
Dreissenidae, Sphaeriidae, and Pharidae1.
Pharidae is a primary marine family4, but it contains a single typically freshwater genus, Novaculina that was
thought to include three species: N. gangetica, N. siamensis, and N. chinensis. This genus belongs to the subfamily Novaculininae, which also comprises a second genus with two species, Sinonovacula constricta5 and S. mollis. Annandale6 suggested that Novaculina is a relict marine-derived freshwater lineage, and this hypothesis has
recently been supported by multi-locus phylogenetic analyses4.
Novaculina gangetica was considered an endemic species of the Ganges River system in India and
Bangladesh7,8, but it was recently discovered in the Kaladan and Lemro rivers in northwestern Myanmar 4.
Novaculina siamensis was known from the Bang Pakong and Pasak rivers in Thailand9,10, but Sayenko et al.11
1
Northern Arctic Federal University, Arkhangelsk, Russia. 2Federal Center for Integrated Arctic Research, Russian
Academy of Sciences, Arkhangelsk, Russia. 3CIIMAR - Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental
Research, University of Porto, Matosinhos, Portugal. 4CIBIO/InBIO - Research Center in Biodiversity and Genetic
Resources, University of Porto, Vairão, Portugal. 5Fauna & Flora International – Myanmar Program, Yangon,
Myanmar. 6Department of Zoology, Hpa-An University, Hpa-An, Kayin State, Myanmar. 7Department of Biology,
Faculty of Science, Mahasarakham University, Maha Sarakham, Thailand. Correspondence and requests for materials
should be addressed to I.N.B. (email: inepras@yandex.ru)
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Figure 1. Distribution range of the genus Novaculina Benson, 1830 based on available georeferenced records
(Supplementary Table 2). The map was created using ESRI ArcGIS 10 software (www.esri.com/arcgis);
the topographic base of the map was created with Natural Earth Free Vector and Raster Map Data (www.
naturalearthdata.com) and Global Self-consistent Hierarchical High-resolution Geography, GSHHG (http://
www.soest.hawaii.edu/wessel/gshhg/). (Map: Mikhail Yu. Gofarov).
found this species in the Mekong Delta in Vietnam. Finally, Novaculina chinensis was described from the Taihu
Lake, a large floodplain water body in the lower Yangtze River basin12, and later reported from two additional
lakes and a river in the same region13–15.
A large Novaculina range disjunction was situated in central and eastern Myanmar (Ayeyarwady and Salween
river basins) (Fig. 1). However, we have discovered an additional species in this genus during a recent field trip
to Myanmar. The present study aims to describe a new species, Novaculina myanmarensis sp. nov., to provide a
brief taxonomic overview of all Novaculina species, and to discuss the putative origin of freshwater lineages in
estuarine bivalves within a broad phylogenetic and biogeographic context.
Results
Multi-locus phylogeny of the Pharidae.
Our multi-locus phylogeny (five partitions: three codons of
COI, 16S rRNA, and 28S rRNA) indicates that Novaculina myanmarensis sp. nov. and N. gangetica represent
phylogenetically distant lineages belonging to a separate, fully-supported subclade (Fig. 2). The mean p-distances
(±standard error estimates) between the new species and Novaculina gangetica are as follows: COI = 8.0 ± 1.0%,
and 16S rRNA = 1.9 ± 0.6%. There is a single nucleotide substitution in the nuclear 28S rRNA gene between
these species. The Novaculina subclade is fully supported by both Bayesian and maximum likelihood models,
and it appears to be closely related to another Pharidae subclade, which includes representatives of Sinonovacula,
Pharella javanica, and Cultellus attenuatus. Pharella javanica belongs to the Sinonovacula subclade, and this
pattern is strongly supported by our models, indicating the synonymy of Pharellinae Stoliczka, 1870 and
Novaculininae Ghosh, 1920.
Divergence times. Our fossil-calibrated phylogeny suggests that the crown group of the Pharidae has
been originated in the mid-Cretaceous (mean age = 103 Ma, 95% HPD 100–113 Ma) (Fig. 2). The Pharellinae
(=Novaculininae) clade most likely originated in the Paleocene (mean age = 61 Ma, 95% HPD 48–77 Ma). The
origin of the Novaculina crown group placed in the Miocene (mean age = 8 Ma, 95% HPD 5–12 Ma). Finally, the
crown group of Pharella + Sinonovacula clade most likely originated in the Oligocene (mean age = 27 Ma, 95%
HPD 19–36 Ma).
Ancestral areas.
The ancestral area modeling indicates that the most recent common ancestor (MRCA)
of the Pharellinae (=Novaculininae) clade was an estuarine species (probability 92.1% by integrative model,
100% by S-DIVA model, 87.5% by DEC model, and 88.8% by S-DEC model). The MRCA of the Novaculina
crown group was most likely a salt-tolerant freshwater species like its recent descendants (probability 56.9% by
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Figure 2. Fossil-calibrated chronogram of the Pharidae computed under a lognormal relaxed clock model and
a Yule process speciation implemented in BEAST 1.8.4 and obtained for the complete data set of mitochondrial
and nuclear sequences (five partitions: three codons of COI + 16S rRNA + 28S rRNA). Bars indicate 95%
confidence intervals of the estimated divergence times between lineages (Ma). Black numbers near nodes are
BPP values of BEAST model/BPP values of MrBayes model/BS of RAxML model. Blue numbers near nodes
are mean ages (Ma). Stratigraphic chart according to the International Commission on Stratigraphy, 2018. The
node pies indicate ancestral area reconstructions (probability of each area combination) in accordance with the
combined biogeographic model (combination of the S-DIVA + DEC + S-DEC models). Age values for weakly
supported nodes are not shown.
Species
Locality
Myanmar:
Lemro River
N. gangetica Benson, 1830
Myanmar:
Kaladan River
N. myanmarensis sp. nov.
Myanmar:
Donthami
River
Myanmar:
Ayeyarwady
River
Acc. numbers of reference sequences
Voucher no.
COI haplotype
code
COI
16S rRNA
28S rRNA
Reference
biv_150_1
L1
MF958986
MF958997
MF959011
4
biv_150_2
L2
MF958987
MF958998
MF959012
4
biv_150_3
K1
MF958988
MF958999
MF959013
4
biv_151_1
K1
MF958989
MF959000
MF959014
4
biv_151_2
K2
MF958990
MF959001
MF959015
4
biv_151_3
K3
MF958991
MF959002
MF959016
4
biv_369_1
D1
MH670876
MH670886
MH664920
This study
biv_369_2
D2
MH670877
MH670887
MH664921
This study
biv_369_3
D3
MH670878
MH670888
MH664922
This study
biv_369_4
D4
MH670879
MH670889
MH664923
This study
biv_369_5
D3
MH670880
MH670890
MH664924
This study
biv_420_1
A1
MH670881
MH670891
MH664925
This study
biv_420_3
A1
MH670882
MH670892
MH664926
This study
biv_420_4
A1
MH670883
MH670893
MH664927
This study
biv_420_5
A1
MH670884
MH670894
MH664928
This study
biv_420_6
A1
MH670885
MH670895
MH664929
This study
Table 1. List of Novaculina (Bivalvia: Pharidae) sequences used in this study.
integrative model, 85.0% by DEC, and 85.6% by S-DEC model), although S-DIVA model assumes that it might be
an estuarine species (probability 100%).
Phylogeography.
A unique COI haplotype of Novaculina myanmarensis sp. nov. has been found in the
Ayeyarwady River, and four unique COI haplotypes were recorded in the Salween Basin (Table 1). The mean COI
p-distance (±standard error estimates) between these groups is 0.3 ± 0.1%. Almost all specimens from both rivers
share a single 16S rRNA haplotype, with exception of a specimen from the Salween Basin having another haplotype with a single nucleotide substitution (239 G). The 28S rRNA sequences were identical among the samples.
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Figure 3. Shells of Novaculina spp. (A) N. myanmarensis sp. nov., holotype RMBH no. biv0420_8, Ayeyarwady
River near Thin Baw Kone village, Pakokku Region, Myanmar. (B) N. myanmarensis sp. nov., paratype RMBH
no. biv0369_3, Donthami River, Salween River basin, Myanmar. (C) N. gangetica, RMBH no. biv0150_24,
Lemro River, Myanmar. Scale bar = 2 cm. (Photos: Ekaterina S. Konopleva).
Taxonomy
Family Pharidae H. Adams & A. Adams, 1856
Subfamily Pharellinae Stoliczka, 1870
Type genus: Pharella Gray, 1854
= Novaculininae Ghosh, 1920 syn. nov.
Type genus: Novaculina Benson, 1830
Genus Novaculina Benson, 1830
Type species: Novaculina gangetica Benson, 1830 (by monotypy).
Novaculina myanmarensis sp. nov.
Type locality.
95.0591°E].
Figures 3A,B, 4A, 5 and 6A, Tables 1 and 2.
Myanmar: Ayeyarwady River, near Thin Baw Kone village (Pakokku Region) [21.3146°N,
Holotype RMBH Biv420_8. Myanmar: Ayeyarwady River, near Thin Baw Kone village (Pakokku Region), clay
bottom near the river shore, 21.3146°N, 95.0591°E, 2 March 2018, Bolotov, Vikhrev, Zau Lunn, Nyein Chan, and
locals leg.
Paratypes. Myanmar: Type locality, same label data, 47 specimens [RMBH Biv0420]; downstream of Donthami
River, hard gravel-clay bottom, 16.6935°N, 97.5819°E, 11 February 2018, 5 specimens, local collector leg. [RMBH
Biv0369]; Magway Division, Ayeyarwady River, large sandbar 1/2 mi SE of Nyaung-U, 21.2066°N, 94.9062°E,
November 2009, 3 specimens, C. N. Piotrowski leg. [CAS 180843]; Ayeyarwady River, near Minbu, 20.1911°N,
94.8788°E, 29 April 2018, 4 specimens, Nyein Chan leg. [FFI].
Etymology.
The name of this species is derived from the country of Myanmar.
Conchological diagnosis. Shell length 20.5–46.5 mm, shell height 7.9–17.5 mm, shell width 4.5–13.3 mm (N = 54,
Table 2). This species has an elongated shell, and is closely related to N. gangetica and N. chinensis, but it can be
distinguished from these taxa by a more rectangular shell shape with truncated posterior end (vs more oval shell
shape with rounded posterior end).
Molecular diagnosis. The new species differs from N. gangetica by the fixed nucleotide substitutions: 49 substitutions in the COI gene fragment [29 G, 38 A, 53 G, 59 A, 92 A, 128 C, 134 C, 161 G, 170 T, 173 A, 182 A, 185 A,
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Figure 4. Soft body morphology (right valve and corresponding mantle tissue were removed) and hinge
structure of Novaculina spp. (A) N. myanmarensis sp. nov. (holotype RMBH biv0420_8), including (a1) soft
body (scale bar = 10 mm), (a2) pseudocardinal teeth on the left valve, and (a3) pseudocardinal teeth on
the right valve (scale bars = 0.4 mm). (B) N. gangetica (RMBH biv0150_24), including (b1) soft body (scale
bar = 10 mm), (b2) pseudocardinal teeth on the left valve, and (b3) pseudocardinal teeth on the right valve
(scale bars = 1 mm). (Photos: Ekaterina S. Konopleva and Ilya V. Vikhrev).
197 A, 200 A, 212 G, 213 C, 215 T, 230 A, 243 T, 245 A, 254 A, 299 A, 302 A, 308 T, 311 C, 314 G, 329 G, 347 T, 362 G,
371 G, 377 C, 380 A, 404 G, 413 G, 464 T, 467 G, 470 G, 485 G, 491 G, 497 T, 521 G, 545 A, 551 G, 560 G, 569 A,
572 A, 590 T, 617 C, 644 A], 8 substitutions in the 16S rRNA gene fragment [24 G, 74 G, 237 A, 239 G, 242 A, 287 G,
288 T, 305 A], and one substitution in the nuclear 28S rRNA gene fragment [429 A].
Description. Shell shape from rectangular to oval-elongated, dorsal and ventral margin are almost parallel to
each other (Fig. 3A,B). Shell thin or moderately thick, not inflated. Periostracum from light yellow to brown;
nacre whitish, shining. Umbo more or less prominent, in the first half of the shell. Pseudocardinal teeth small
and distant from each other, two on the right valve and three on the left valve. Anterior muscle scar pyriform,
posterior muscle scar shallow and with rounded shape. The mantle and its edges colored in light yellow. The gills
elongated and ribbed (Fig. 4A). The anterior margin of inner gills slightly longer and wider than the outer gills.
Foot stumpy, slightly dilated at the end and somewhat truncated; branchial siphon stouter than the anal one,
almost the same length, surface of siphon ribbed (Figs 4A and 6A).
Intraspecific conchological variability. Specimens from the Donthami and Ayeyarwady rivers are rather different from each other conchologically (compare Fig. 3A,B). The first ones are stronger and thicker, have more
truncated posterior end, slightly concave dorsal margin, more developed umbo and hinge. The specimens from
the Ayeyarwady River are characterized by more elliptical and very thin shell with light-yellow and smoother
periostracum. At first glance, these conchological differences may reflect an environment-induced variability,
because the populations were recorded from sites with different bottom substrate (i.e. soft clay substrate in the
Ayeyarwady River vs hard gravel-clay substrate in the Donthami River).
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Figure 5. Type locality and habitats of Novaculina myanmarensis sp. nov. (A) Habitat in the downstream of the
Donthami River, 16.6935°N, 97.5819°E. (B) Type locality: the middle section of the Ayeyarwady River near Thin
Baw Kone village (Pakokku Region), 21.3146°N, 95.0591°E. (C) Сlay bottom substrate with clam burrows, the
type locality. (D) A clam in its burrow, the type locality. (Photos: Ilya V. Vikhrev).
Figure 6. Live Novaculina clams with protruded siphons. (A) N. myanmarensis sp. nov., Donthami River. (B) N.
gangetica, Lemro River. Scale bar = 10 mm. (Photos: Ilya V. Vikhrev).
Distribution.
Donthami (Salween River basin) and Ayeyarwady rivers in Myanmar.
Habitat. Downstream and middle section of large rivers, in fresh water (Fig. 5A,B). This species inhabits
gravel-clay and clay bottom, in which it makes deep vertical holes (Fig. 5C,D).
Comments. Local villagers harvest N. myanmarensis sp. nov. from the downstream section of the Donthami
River (food for consumption). In contrast, this species seems to be unutilized in the Ayeyarwady River.
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Locality
Status of specimen Voucher no.*
Shell length, mm Shell height, mm Shell width, mm
Myanmar: Ayeyarwady River,
Pakokku Region, near Thin Baw
Kone village
Holotype
40.6
Myanmar: downstream of
Donthami River
Biv0420_8
15.2
9.8
Paratype
Biv0420_1
34.5
12.8
7.9
Paratype
Biv0420_2
38.1
13.9
8.7
Paratype
Biv0420_3
36.4
12.9
8.7
Paratype
Biv0420_4
34.9
11.8
7.8
Paratype
Biv0420_5
34.1
12.3
7.7
Paratype
Biv0420_6
38.5
13.9
8.5
Paratype
Biv0420_7
33.7
12.2
7.4
Paratype
Biv0420_9
40.6
15.2
9.8
Paratype
Biv0420_10
30.3
11.1
6.4
Paratype
Biv0420_11
31.4
11.9
7.0
Paratype
Biv0420_12
35.2
12.4
8.1
Paratype
Biv0420_13
27.6
10.0
5.8
Paratype
Biv0420_14
35.4
12.9
7.9
Paratype
Biv0420_15
33.5
12.2
7.3
Paratype
Biv0420_16
27.9
10.9
6.1
Paratype
Biv0420_17
30.3
11.0
6.7
Paratype
Biv0420_18
36.3
12.5
8.0
Paratype
Biv0420_19
29.6
11.0
7.0
Paratype
Biv0420_20
36.4
12.2
7.5
Paratype
Biv0420_21
30.9
11.3
6.5
Paratype
Biv0420_22
34.1
12.7
8.0
Paratype
Biv0420_23
33.4
12.0
7.0
Paratype
Biv0420_24
33.1
11.4
7.1
Paratype
Biv0420_25
29.8
10.5
6.7
Paratype
Biv0420_26
30.2
11.0
6.5
Paratype
Biv0420_27
29.1
10.8
6.8
Paratype
Biv0420_28
32.3
11.8
7.0
Paratype
Biv0420_29
25.4
9.0
6.0
Paratype
Biv0420_30
28.3
10.1
6.3
Paratype
Biv0420_31
26.4
9.7
6.2
Paratype
Biv0420_32
27.1
10.5
6.1
Paratype
Biv0420_33
24.3
9.3
5.4
Paratype
Biv0420_34
24.1
9.5
4.9
Paratype
Biv0420_35
26.2
10.2
6.3
Paratype
Biv0420_36
21.6
8.1
4.9
Paratype
Biv0420_37
28.5
11.6
5.6
Paratype
Biv0420_38
20.5
7.9
4.5
Paratype
Biv0420_39
25.0
9.5
5.8
Paratype
Biv0420_40
38.1
14.2
9.0
Paratype
Biv0420_41
40.4
15.0
9.3
Paratype
Biv0420_42
35.6
12.8
7.9
Paratype
Biv0420_43
34.3
12.5
7.6
Paratype
Biv0420_44
33.5
11.4
7.1
Paratype
Biv0420_45
33.1
11.4
6.9
Paratype
Biv0420_46
32.3
12.0
7.5
Paratype
Biv0420_47
36.8
12.7
7.9
Paratype
Biv0420_48
26.5
10.0
5.6
Paratype
Biv0369_1
46.5
17.0
12.0
Paratype
Biv0369_2
41.9
16.2
11.0
Paratype
Biv0369_3
43.9
17.0
13.3
Paratype
Biv0369_4
43.3
17.3
12.9
Paratype
Biv0369_5
42.6
17.5
12.3
Mean ± s.e.m.
32.91 ± 0.81
12.12 ± 0.31
7.58 ± 0.27
Table 2. Measurements of the type series of Novaculina myanmarensis sp. nov. *RMBH – Russian Museum
of Biodiversity Hotspots, Federal Center for Integrated Arctic Research, Russian Academy of Sciences
(Arkhangelsk, Russia).
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Novaculina gangetica Benson, 1830.
Novaculina gangetica Benson16: p. 63; Subba Rao7: p. 223; Graf2: p.
152.
Figures 3C, 4B, and 6B.
Type locality.
Ganges, Calcutta [India, approximately 22.6°N, 88.3°E].
Type series. The University Museum of Zoology, Cambridge, UK [UMZC I.102125: eleven syntypes from the
Robert McAndrew collection, labeled “Bens. Coll., Ganges, Calcutta”].
Conchological diagnosis. Shell length 28.1–39.7 mm, shell height 12.9–17.5 mm, shell width 8.1–12.7 mm
(N = 24). This species has an elongated shell, and is closely related to N. myanmarensis sp. nov. and N. chinensis.
It could be distinguished from N. myanmarensis sp. nov. by a more ovate shell shape with rounded posterior end
(vs more rectangular shell shape with truncated posterior end). N. gangetica differs from N. chinensis by somewhat higher and shorter shell with slightly convex ventral margin (vs more elongated shell with straight ventral
margin).
Intraspecific conchological variability.
posterior end4.
Some specimens have somewhat trapezoidal shell, with slightly expanded
Distribution. Ganges River and its tributaries in India and Bangladesh ranging from the delta to at least
1,500 km upstream7,8,17,18, Buriganga and Pashur river systems in Bangladesh19,20, and Kaladan and Lemro rivers
in Myanmar4.
Habitat. The species inhabits downstream and middle sections of large rivers, in fresh or slightly brackish
water4,8. N. gangetica prefers clay bottom, in which it makes cylindrical holes4,16,17, but it was also recorded in soft
sand and silt bottom8. In the Kaladan River, this species also inhabits submerged rocks, in which it was recorded
from the vacant borings of Lignopholas fluminalis, filled with clay4. Benson16 noted that this species rarely occurs
from holes in rocks in the Jumna and Gumti rivers, and that the specimens from such a habitat have an asymmetrical shell.
Comments. Local villagers harvest N. gangetica from the Kaladan and Lemro rivers in Myanmar (food for consumption and local market trade), but it seems to be unutilized in India7.
Novaculina siamensis Morlet, 1889.
Novaculina siamensis Morlet10: p. 172, 198; Brandt9: p. 303; Graf2: p.
152; Sayenko et al.11: p. 182.
Type locality. Marais de Chantakam (Siam)10 [M. Chantakam, rainfall station on a tributary of the Phra Prong
River21,22, Thailand, approximately 14.0°N, 102.0°E].
Type series. Whereabouts unknown. Morlet’s collection of shells from Indochina went to P. Dautzenberg and
is in the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural History, Brussels, Belgium. However, the type series of N. siamensis
seems to be lacking in this collection (Thierry Backeljau, pers. comm., 2018).
Conchological diagnosis. Shell length 30–38 mm, shell height 13–18 mm, shell width 10–15 mm9. This species
could be distinguished from all the other Novaculina taxa by its much shorter and higher shell, less prominent
umbo, clear sculpture with concentric growth lines, and dark yellow periostracum.
Intraspecific conchological variability: Some shells in the Mekong Delta population are asymmetrical and
torsed11.
Distribution. Bang Pakong and Pa Sak River basins in Thailand9,10, and the Mekong Delta in Vietnam11. We
assume that a population of N. cf. siamensis from a tidal creek in the Trang Province of Thailand23 belongs to
another species, because this creek empties into the Andaman Sea.
Habitat. Upstream section of medium-sized rivers, in fresh water, probably on clay bottom substrate. However,
it was found in a slightly brackish, tidal channel in the Mekong Delta11.
Comments. This species seems to be unutilized in Thailand.
Novaculina chinensis Liu & Zhang, 1979.
25
2
Novaculina chinensis Liu & Zhang12: p. 356; Qin24: p. 305; He
26
& Zhuang : p. 128; Graf : p. 152; Chen et al. : p. 4.
Type locality.
Wuxi, Jiangsu Province [Lake Taihu, approximately 31.4402°N, 120.3143°E]12.
Type series. National Zoological Museum of China, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing,
China [holotype NZMC KS 747703, paratypes NZMC FM00855]25.
Conchological diagnosis. Shell length 34–46 mm, shell height 11–16 mm, shell width 8–10 mm12. This species
is closely related to N. myanmarensis sp. nov. and N. gangetica by an elongated shell shape, but could be distinguished from these species by more prominent, somewhat acute umbo.
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Intraspecific conchological variability.
Not known.
Distribution. Downstream of the Yangtze River, China, most records from Lake Taihu12,24,27, Lake Hongze14,
and Lake Chaohu13.
Habitat.
Large floodplain lakes, in fresh water12–14,24,27. A single record from the Shangqing River15.
Comments. This species seems to be unutilized in China. A parasitic mite species, Unionicola imamurai Hevers,
1978, has been reported from N. chinensis15.
Discussion
Taxonomic conclusions. Our results reveal that the genus Novaculina comprises four species: N. gangetica from India, Bangladesh and northwestern Myanmar, N. myanmarensis sp. nov. from central and eastern
Myanmar, N. siamensis from Thailand and southern Vietnam, and N. chinensis from southeastern China (Fig. 1).
An additional species, Novaculina andamanensis, was described from the Andaman Islands but without a precise
locality28 (holotype no. ZSI M4060/1, paratype no. ZSI 20765/4 [Subba-Rao7 considered the latter specimen to be
the holotype], malacological collection of the Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata, India29). However, this species
has been considered a junior synonym of the marine bivalve species Azorinus coarctatus29,30. We agree with that
taxonomic conclusion, because, according to the original description and figure of the type specimen28, this species has somewhat trapezoidal shell with concave ventral margin as seen in Azorinus coarctatus.
Records of Novaculina are still lacking from the downstream sections of several large and medium-sized
Southeast and East Asian rivers such as the Pearl River in China and Red River in Vietnam. Taking into account
a poor knowledge of freshwater fauna in these basins, further records of new Novaculina taxa could not be ruled
out. An occasional record of Novaculina cf. siamensis from a small creek in southern Thailand23 suggests that the
members of this genus could also establish permanent populations in small-sized freshwater basins, the fauna of
which is almost unknown.
Two pharid genera, i.e. Sinonovacula and Novaculina, were hitherto placed in the Novaculininae5. This subfamily was established for Novaculina gangetica31, but, later, Sinonovacula constricta had also been placed within
it32. However, we found that Pharella javanica belongs to a well-supported clade together with Sinonovacula
and Novaculina species (Fig. 2), as it was also shown by another study4. According to this, we propose the
Novaculininae as a junior synonym of the Pharellinae. A close similarity between Pharella and Sinonovacula has
also been recorded by a functional morphology, particularly in the presence of crescentric anterior and posterior
pedal protractor muscles in both taxa5.
Biogeographic implications. Discovery of the new Novaculina species from the Salween and Ayeyarwady
river drainage basins in Myanmar indicates that the range of this genus is rather continuous and extends along
the continental margin of Asia from the Ganges River to the Yangtze River (Fig. 1). Unfortunately, the phylogenetic affinities of the two eastern species, i.e. Novaculina siamensis and N. chinensis, are still unknown because
of the lack of available molecular data. However, they may represent a divergent clade, because the Thai–Malay
Peninsula is a significant biogeographic barrier to longitudinal dispersal of aquatic animals33. This barrier could
have existed during most of the Cenozoic Epoch34, although it may have occasionally been incised, but not
breached, at the Isthmus of Kra33. Our statistical biogeographic modeling strongly supports the hypothesis4,6,18
that the genus Novaculina is a relict, marine-derived freshwater clade. Similar examples of such secondary freshwater lineages are known among a variety of other taxa, e.g. in fishes, gastropods, polychaetes, and crustaceans4,35.
The high level of molecular divergence between the two western species, i.e. Novaculina gangetica and N.
myanmarensis sp. nov., supports a new freshwater biogeographic division of Southeast Asia that has been developed on the basis of unionid mussel research36–38. According to this model, the drainages of the Arakan coast of
Myanmar, the Ayeyarwady, Bago, Sittaung, and Bilin river basins, and east to the Salween River and drainages of
southern Myanmar belong to the Western Indochina Subregion of the Oriental Region38. This subregion has high
levels of faunal endemism and is separated well from the Indian and Sundaland subregions38,39. However, our
new study reveals that the northern drainages of the Aracan coast such as the Kaladan and Lemro rivers seem to
be a rather marginal part of the Indian Subregion that has already been shown by another research4. Anyway, the
presence of sister but highly divergent species in the Ganges and Ayeyarwady rivers even in salt-tolerant freshwater taxa such as Novaculina strongly indicates that these basins were separated at least since the Miocene (Fig. 2).
In contrast, a shallow genetic divergence between populations of Novaculina myanmarensis sp. nov. from the
Salween and Ayeyarwady river basins in Myanmar suggests that there were relatively recent (i.e. Late Pleistocene)
dispersal events in this species among the downstream sections of these large river drainages. The phylogeography of freshwater mussels (Unionidae) partly reflects this pattern, e.g. the distribution range of Leoparreysia
tavoyensis crosses numerous freshwater drainages from the Tavoy (north of the Thai–Malay Peninsula) to the
Ayeyarwady36,37. However, the majority of unionid species in Myanmar appear to be restricted to certain drainage
basins or their tributaries36,37.
There are several widespread salt-tolerant estuarine and freshwater species, e.g. a polychaete, Neanthes meggitti (Nereididae), and a pholadid bivalve, Lignopholas fluminalis (Pholadidae)4, the range of which encompasses
the downstream sections of the Ganges and Ayeyarwady rivers. Such taxa were described from the delta of
Ayeyarwady and later have been discovered from the Ganges, or vice versa, and they are ecologically associated
with the typical Novaculina habitats4. The discovery of a new Novaculina species in Myanmar indicates that such
taxa with broad distribution may actually represent cryptic species complexes, although this preliminary assumption is in need of future molecular research with extensive field surveys in South and Southeast Asia.
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Methods
Data sampling and mapping.
The samples of Novaculina myanmarensis sp. nov. were collected from two
localities during a field trip to Myanmar in 2018. Additional materials were investigated in the collections of
the Fauna & Flora International – Myanmar Program [FFI] (Yangon, Myanmar) and California Academy of
Sciences [CAS] (San Francisco, USA). We processed new COI, 16S rRNA and 28S rRNA sequences from ten
specimens of Novaculina myanmarensis sp. nov. (Table 1) using the standard approach as described in our previous work4. Sequences of Novaculina gangetica and other Pharidae taxa were obtained from GenBank (Table 1
and Supplementary Table 1). We collected a dataset of reliable georeferenced records of Novaculina species from
published sources and museum specimens (Supplementary Table 2). The map was created using ESRI ArcGIS 10
software (www.esri.com/arcgis).
Morphological study. The samples were studied using a stereomicroscope (Leica M165C, Leica
Microsystems, Germany). The comparative analysis of taxa was performed according to the standard conchological patterns, i.e. the shape of shell, hinge structure, muscle attachment scars, and position of umbo.
Sequence alignment, saturation analyses and congruence of phylogenetic signals. We aligned
each gene data set using the MUSCLE algorithm in MEGA640. We performed the saturation test of Xia et al.41
with DAMBE v. 5.3.10842, but we found no evidence of substitution saturation (P < 0.001). A partition homogeneity test was calculated in PAUP* v. 4.0a151 to confirm the congruence of phylogenetic signals among sequence
data sets43. This test revealed that the signals among the data sets are consistent (P > 0.1 in all the combinations).
Phylogenetic analyses.
We computed maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference phylogenetic models with RAxML v. 8.2.6 HPC Black Box44 and MrBayes v. 3.2.645, respectively. The settings of analyses were as
described in Bolotov et al.4. The best substitution models that were used for the Bayesian analyses are listed in
Supplementary Table 3. The phylogenetic analysis was done at the San Diego Supercomputer Center through the
CIPRES Science Gateway46.
Divergence time modeling. A time-calibrated phylogenetic model has been calculated with BEAST 1.8.447
using the same substitution models as for the MrBayes analyses (Supplementary Table 3). A lognormal relaxed
clock and Yule speciation process with continuous quantile parametrization were assigned as model’s priors. To
timing the phylogeny, we used the following new crown fossil calibration: †Leptosolen otterensis Cragin (1894)48.
Diagnosis and phylogenetic placement: Shell thin, elongated, moderately convex, inequilateral, compressed anteriorly, with anterior fold and angular growth lines around anterior and posterior margins. This species seems to
be the oldest member of the genus49, and may represent an ancestral lineage of the Pharidae. Stratigraphic horizon and locality: dark-gray shale of Kiowa Formation (Albian) in central Kansas48. Absolute age estimate: Lower
Cretaceous, upper Albian boundary, 100.5 Ma, based on stratigraphy48; 95% soft upper bound 113.0 Ma (lower
Albian boundary). Prior setting: exponential distribution, mean (lambda) = 3.4, MRCA: Novaculina gangetica
– Siliqua radiata. Five independent runs of 30,000,000 generations were processed, with sampling every 1,000
generation. The resulting tree sets were combined using LogCombiner 1.8.447. An appropriate burn-in was chosen
for each tree set with Tracer v. 1.650. A maximum clade credibility tree has been computed with TreeAnnotator
1.8.4 with an additional resampling every 10,000 generation47.
Ancestral area modeling.
Ancestral area reconstruction has been performed on the basis of three algorithms, i.e., Statistical Dispersal-Vicariance Analysis (S-DIVA), Dispersal-Extinction Cladogenesis (DEC), and
Statistical Dispersal-Extinction Cladogenesis (S-DEC) implemented in RASP v. 3.251 as described in Bolotov et
al.4. We assigned two possible ancestral areas of the in-group species, i.e., (a) estuarine and (ab) freshwater to
estuarine. The three primary models were combined into an integrative model using the Combine Results option
of RASP v. 3.251.
Molecular diagnoses. To test the molecular differences between N. myanmarensis sp. nov. and N. gangetica,
we used an approach of Bolotov et al.37. The mean p-distances and number of fixed nucleotide substitutions were
accessed using MEGA640.
Nomenclatural acts.
The electronic edition of this article conforms to the requirements of the amended
International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN), and hence the new names contained herein are available under that Code from the electronic edition of this article. This published work and the nomenclatural acts
it contains have been registered in ZooBank (http://zoobank.org), the online registration system for the ICZN.
The LSID for this publication is: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:19E34605-30C2-4DAB-B81F-53A1FDB324DB. The
electronic edition of this paper was published in a journal with an ISSN, and has been archived and is available
from PubMed Central.
Data Availability
The sequences used in this study are available from GenBank. Accession numbers for each specimen are presented in Table 1. The type series of the new species is available in the Russian Museum of Biodiversity Hotspots
[RMBH], Federal Center for Integrated Arctic Research, Russian Academy of Sciences (Arkhangelsk, Russia),
Fauna & Flora International – Myanmar Program [FFI] (Yangon, Myanmar), and California Academy of Sciences
[CAS] (San Francisco, USA).
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Acknowledgements
We are grateful to the Editor and two anonymous reviewers for their important comments which improved
an initial version of the manuscript. This work was partly funded by grants from the Russian Ministry of
Education and Science (project no. 6.2343.2017/4.6), Federal Agency for Scientific Organizations (project no.
0409-2015-0143), Russian Foundation for Basic Research (project nos. 16-34-00638 and 18-44-292001), National
Geographic Society (project no. NGS-274R-18), and Northern Arctic Federal University. M.L.-L. was funded
by FCT – Foundation for Science and Technology under grant no. SFRH/BD/115728/2016. We are grateful to
Dr. Thierry Backeljau (Royal Belgian Institute of Natural History, Brussels, Belgium), the late Dr. Tony Whitten
(Fauna & Flora International – Asia-Pacific), Mr. Frank Momberg (Fauna & Flora International – Myanmar
Program, Myanmar), staff of the Department of Fisheries of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation
of Myanmar, and Khin Lin Lin Kyaw (Department of Zoology, Hpa-An University, Myanmar) for their great help
during this study. Our research has been performed under the survey permission no. 5/6000/LFR(210/2018)
dated on 23 January 2018 issued by the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation of Myanmar and the
export permission no. NWCD/CITES/9/5666/2018 dated on 28 June 2018 issued by the Forest Department of the
Ministry of Environmental Conservation and Forestry of Myanmar.
Author Contributions
I.N.B. developed the concept of the study. I.V.V., I.N.B., M.L.-L., Z.L., N.C. and T.W. collected samples. A.V.K.
designed and processed molecular analyses. E.S.K. performed morphological and anatomical research. M.Y.G.
created the map. I.N.B. performed phylogenetic modeling and wrote the paper, with input from E.S.K., I.V.V.,
M.L.-L., Z.L., N.C., A.V.K., M.Y.G., O.V.A., S.T. and T.W. All authors discussed the manuscript.
Additional Information
Supplementary information accompanies this paper at https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-34491-8.
Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing interests.
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