A case of hermaphroditism in the freshwater invading bivalve Limnoperna fortunei (Dunker, 1857) (Mytilidae) from Río de la Plata, Argentina

The Southeast Asian freshwater mussel Limnoperna fortunei (Dunker, 1857) was first reported living in the Americas at Río de la Plata, Argentina, in 1991. Still earlier, it had invaded the Hong Kong area in the late ’60s and Japan in the ’70s. L. fortunei is dioecious, and no case of hermaphroditism have been previously reported. While studying the reproductive cycle of the Río de la Plata population of this species, three cases among 545 specimens studied were hermaphrodite representing only 0.55% of the total. In this contribution, a gonadal description of these cases of hermaphroditism in L. fortunei is presented. The histological study gave three kind of follicles, and their proportion in a hermaphrodite individual was 21% testis, 19% ovaries and 60% with both types of gamete