Subfamily
Margaritiferinae
Margaritifera falcata. Photo: (c) Lee, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
Margaritiferidae is a family of medium-sized freshwater mussels, aquatic bivalve molluscs in the order Unionoida. They are known as freshwater pearl mussels, because the interior of the shell of these species has a thick layer of nacre or mother of pearl, and the mussels are thus capable of producing pearls.