Bathymodiolinae

Saether, Kristian P., Little, Crispin T. S., Campbell, Kathleen A., Marshall, Bruce A., Collins, Mike & Alfaro, Andrea C., 2010, New fossil mussels (Bivalvia: Mytilidae) from Miocene hydrocarbon seep deposits, North Island, New Zealand, with general remarks on vent and seep mussels, Zootaxa 2577, pp. 1-45 : 14

Subfamily Bathymodiolinae Kenk and Wilson, 1985

Discussion. Vent and seep mussels of the genera Bathymodiolus , Gigantidas and Tamu traditionally have been referred to a subfamily Bathymodiolinae Kenk and Wilson, 1985 (e.g. Cosel and Janssen 2008), although as indicated by Samadi et al. (2007), on molecular evidence the group is “robustly rooted within a monophyletic group that includes the species Modiolus modiolus ...”, i.e. subfamily Modiolinae Keen, 1958 . Thus, Bathymodiolinae would appear to be a grade of Modiolinae comprising several clades, each probably independently derived from small wood-associated ancestors ( Distel 2000; Fujita et al. 2009). Re-evaluation of the higher classification of mytilids is not our intention, and we consider it appropriate and convenient to refer to these mussels as bathymodiolines.