See text for genera Margaritiferidae is a family of medium-sized freshwater mussels, aquatic bivalve molluscs in the order Unionida.

[3] The family is sometimes referred to as the freshwater pearl mussel family,[4] but "freshwater pearl mussel" more often applies to the species Margaritifera margaritifera.

A 2018 study suggested a new phylogeny and systematics of the Margaritiferidae, comprising two subfamilies, Gibbosulinae and Margaritiferinae, and four genera, Gibbosula, Cumberlandia, Margaritifera, and Pseudunio.

[3] This family has ancient origins, having diverged from the ancestors of the Unionidae during the Late Triassic with the crown group of the Margaritiferidae arising by the Middle Jurassic, and both extant subfamilies diverging by the Late Jurassic.

All extant genera diverged from one another by the Late Jurassic or Early Cretaceous.