ABSTRACT
The shells of Pearl mussels from the basins of the Solza, Keret', and Umba rivers flowing into the White Sea have been measured to determine the ratio of shell convexity to its maximum height. This ratio is the main character that, according to Bogatov et al. (2003), allows one to distinguish between three species of the genus Margaritifera: M. margaritifera, M. elongata, and M. borealis. It has been found that the above ratio gradually increases as the shell grows. Therefore, this character is unsuitable for species diagnosis, the more so that no hiatus in it between the three forms of pearl mussels has been revealed in any of the samples studied. On this basis, it may be concluded that Northern Europe, including Russia, is inhabited by only one species of pearl mussels, M. margaritifera.
