Higher Classification: > Kingdom Animalia > Subkingdom Eumetazoa > Phylum Mollusca > Class Bivalvia > Subclass Autobranchia > Infraclass Heteroconchia > Subterclass Euheterodonta > Superorder Imparidentia > Order Sphaeriida > Superfamily Sphaerioidea > Family Sphaeriidae > Subfamily Sphaeriinae

Sphaerium Scopoli, 1777

Rank: Genus
Taxon Status: accepted

Relationships towards this taxon

Genus group names

*Cyclas*	Lamarck, 1798	synonym
*Musculium*	Link, 1807	synonym
*Sphaerium (Musculium)*	Link, 1807	synonym; alternate representation

Children

Sphaerium asiaticum (Martens, 1864)
Sphaerium corneum (Linnaeus, 1758)
Sphaerium lacustre (O. F. Müller, 1774)
Sphaerium nitidum Clessin, 1876
Sphaerium nucleus (Studer, 1820)
Sphaerium ovale (A. Ferussac, 1807)
Sphaerium rivicola (Lamarck, 1818)
Sphaerium solidum (Normand, 1844)

Vernaculars (+) (-)

English: fingernailclams; orb mussels sources: Cole, T. C. H. (2017). Wörterbuch der Wirbellosen / Dictionary of Invertebrates. Latein-Deutsch-English. 2017. Springer Spektrum: Berlin. ISBN 978-3-662-52869-3. XII, 574 pp.

German: Kugelmuscheln

Literature

original description	Scopoli, G.A. (1777). Introductio ad historiam naturalem, sistens genera lapidum, plantarum et animalium hactenus detecta, caracteribus essentialibus donata, in tribus divisa, subinde ad leges naturae. Pragae. Wolfgang Gerle. Pp i-x + 1-506.
basis of record	Vinarski, M. V.; Kantor, Yu. I. (2016). Analytical catalogue of fresh and brackish water molluscs of Russia and adjacent countries. A. N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of Russian Academy of Science, Moscow, 544 pp.
additional source	Becher, E. F. (1886). A Sind lake. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. 1(3): 91-96.
additional source	Allen, J. A. (1911). Notes on collecting Sphaerium and Pisidium. The Nautilus. 24(12): 141-142.
additional source	Carpenter, H. F. (1889). The shell-bearing Mollusca of Rhode Island. The Nautilus. 3(1): 11-12; 3(2): 21-23; 3(3): 32-33; 3(5): 56-59; 3(6): 69-71; 3(7): 82-83; 3(8): 92-95.
additional source	Clench, W. J. & Turner, R. D. (1956). Freshwater mollusks of Alabama, Georgia, and Florida from the Escambia to the Suwannee River. Bulletin of the Florida State Museum, Biological Sciences. 1(3): 97-239, pls. 1-9.
status source	Lee, T.; Foighil, D. Ó. (2003). Phylogenetic structure of the Sphaeriinae, a global clade of freshwater bivalve molluscs, inferred from nuclear (ITS-1) and mitochondrial (16S) ribosomal gene sequences. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 137(2): 245-260.

Genbank

Citation

MolluscaBase eds. (2025). MolluscaBase. Sphaerium Scopoli, 1777. Via: Costello, M.J.; Bouchet, P.; Boxshall, G.; Arvantidis, C.; Appeltans, W. (2011) European Register of Marine Species, Accessed through PESI at http://www.eu-nomen.eu/portal/taxon.php?GUID=urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:181560

Dr. Rafael Araujo. Sphaerium Scopoli, 1777. Accessed through: Fauna Europaea at https://portal.cybertaxonomy.org/fauna-europaea/cdm_dataportal/taxon/76fd50c0-281c-4d83-855e-e673ef0f6d4a