Alcide d'Orbigny first described the species
Mytilus platensis d'Orbigny, 1842,. Species that was for many year erroneously confused with
Mytilus chilensis described by
Hipolito Hupé in 1854. Nowadays most biodiversity databases, such as the World Register of Marine Species or the Integrated Taxonomic Information System recognise
Mytilus chilensis as a valid taxon in the
Mytilus genus and different from
Mytilus platensis.
Mytilus chilensis is part of the worldwide
Mytilus edulis complex of mussels, or
blue mussels. Modern genetic studies based on
single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) have demonstrated that the Chilean mussel is genetically different of both the
Mediterranean mussel (
Mytilus galloprovincialis) and the North Atlantic
Mytilus edulis. Evidence collected until 2021 recognized several blue mussel species in South America, including native
M. platensis, introduced
M. galloprovincialis from the Mediterranean, and possibly-introduced
M. planulatus. Using nuclear DNA markers, Borsa et al. (2012) confirmed earlier results from allozymes that most populations in the south of the South American continent indeed represent a native Southern Hemisphere lineage of the blue mussel, for which they suggested to use the subspecies name
Mytilus edulis platensis (now
M. platensis). The same authors questioned the earlier identifications of the Montevideo mussel in Southern Chile as "
M. galloprovincialis" because the genetic markers then used could not help distinguishing
M. galloprovincialis from any of the two native blue mussel species from the Southern Hemisphere, now referred to as
M. planulatus and
M. platensis. Moreover,
M. platensis populations in southern Chile show slight
introgression from
M. planulatus. ==See also==