Updated checklist of Marine Bivalve Molluscs of Montenegro (southeast Adriatic Sea)

This paper presents an updated inventory of marine bivalves of Montenegro. The checklist based on published literature and recent research includes 165 taxa. Eleven taxa are recorded here for the first time in Montenegrin coastal waters. Six species are non-indigenous, while one is crytogenic. Two species (Lithophaga lithophaga and Pinna nobilis) are additionally listed in Annex IV of the Habitat Directive and are therefore protected fauna species in Montenegro. Three species are strictly protected according to the Bern Convention (Appendix II), while four species are endangered or threatened according to the Barcelona Convention (1976, Annex II). Pinna nobilis is considered to be Critically Endangered due to mass mortality. Finaly, as Thyasira orahovaziana is a questionable taxon as its validity is uncertain (taxon inquirendum) it is excluded from the checklist, as well as the taxa Spaniorinus reconditus which is extinct and Mytilus edulis, whose occurrence in Montenegrin coastal waters is uncertain.