> David, where do you get your reference(s) to support your statement that
> the "Etheridae is polyphyletic"?

Arthur Bogan and Walter Hoeh had an abstract and talk at the Biology and Evolution
of the Bivalvia meeting in Cambridge (UK, not Mass.) last year.  I do not know of a
more detailed publication as of yet.  The meeting volume is due out this fall.
They also note Starobogatov 1970 and Bonetto 1997 as advocating polyphyly.  Daniel
Graf gave an abstract at last year's AMS meeting on the Hyriidae being with the
Etherioidea, based on morphological features.  COI results require some caution in
interpretation, as mitochondria can do strange things in bivalves.

David