Unio pictorum

Painter's mussel
Left valve of a brown shell
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1) [1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Bivalvia
Order:	Unionida
Family:	Unionidae
Genus:	Unio
Species:	U. pictorum
Binomial name
Unio pictorum (Linnaeus, 1758)
Distribution of Unio pictorum in Europe.

Internal view of both valves

Unio pictorum is moving on the muddy bottom of a freshwater lake. Russia, the Southern Urals.

Unio pictorum, the painter's mussel, is a species of medium-sized freshwater mussel, an aquatic bivalve mollusk in the family Unionidae, the river mussels. ^[2]

This species lives in Europe. It is called the "painter's mussel" because the shell was historically used as a conveniently sized and shaped receptacle for holding artist's paint.

Subspecies

• † Unio pictorum alexeeviMangikian, 1929
• † Unio pictorum pseudorumanusChepalyga, 1967
• † Unio pictorum rumanoidesChepalyga, 1967

Synonyms

• Limnium pictorum(Linnaeus, 1758) ·
• Lymnium pictorum(Linnaeus, 1758) ·
• Mya nodosaGmelin, 1791 (a junior synonym)
• Mya ovalisPhilipsson, 1788 (a junior synonym)
• Mya pictorumLinnaeus, 1758 (original combination)
• Unio (Unio) kalmykorumBogachev, 1924 (junior subjective synonym)
• Unio (Unio) limosusNilsson, 1822 (a junior synonym)
• Unio (Unio) pictorum(Linnaeus, 1758) ·
• Unio (Unio) protractusLindholm, 1932 (junior subjective synonym)
• Unio (Unio) rostrataLamarck, 1819 (a junior synonym)
• Unio annulatusKobelt, 1911 (a junior synonym)
• Unio ascaniusKobelt, 1912 (junior synonym)
• Unio deshayesiiMichaud, 1831 (a junior synonym)
• Unio gaudioniDrouët, 1881 (junior synonym)
• Unio gentilisF. Haas, 1911junior subjective synonym
• Unio inflatusStuder, 1820 (a junior synonym)
• Unio kalmykorumBogachev, 1924 (a junior synonym)
• Unio latirostrisKüster, 1853 (a junior synonym)
• Unio limosusNilsson, 1822 (a junior synonym)
• Unio limosus behningiStarobogatov & Pirogov, 1970 (a junior synonym)
• Unio lindholmiZhadin, 1938 (a junior synonym)
• Unio longirostrisRossmässler, 1836 ·
• Unio longirostris schrenckianusClessin, 1880 (a junior synonym)
• Unio maltzaniKüster, 1854 (a junior synonym)
• Unio pictorum okensisZhadin, 1938 (a junior synonym)
• Unio pictorum var. grandisRossmässler, 1842 (a junior synonym)
• Unio pictorum var. okaeKobelt, 1911 (invalid; junior homonym of Unio...)
• Unio pictorum var. okensisZhadin, 1938 (junior synonym)
• Unio pictorum var. pachyodonH. Jordan, 1879 junior subjective synonym
• Unio pictorum var. pygmaeusZhadin, 1938 (a junior synonym)
• Unio pictorum var. tumensde Joannis, 1859 (a junior synonym)
• Unio pictorum var. vinceleusde Joannis, 1859 (a junior synonym)
• Unio platyrhynchusRossmässler, 1835 (a junior synonym)
• Unio ponderosusRossmässler, 1842 (a junior synonym)
• Unio praeposterusKüster, 1853 (a junior synonym)
• Unio protractusLindholm, 1932 ·
• † Unio protractus subpictorumLindholm, 1932 (subjective synonym)
• Unio quinqueannulatusKüster, 1854 (junior synonym)
• Unio rostrataLamarck, 1819 ·
• Unio rostratusLamarck, 1819 (wrong gender agreement)
• Unio schrenkianusClessin, 1880 (a junior synonym)
• Unio voltziiKobelt, 1911 (invalid; not Koch & Dunker, 1837)

Distribution

The native distribution of this species is Europe and Siberia (Russia). ^[1]

• Croatia
• Czech Republic - in Bohemia, in Moravia, ^[3] least concern (LC); ^{[4] [5]} Czech code, Decree for implementation, No. 395/1992 Sb. (and No. 175/2006 Sb.) - Critically Threatened species.
• Slovakia ^[3] - not in red lists
• Estonia – frequent.
• Germany
  • endangered (gefährdet) ^[6]
  • Listed as specially protected species in annex 1 in Bundesartenschutzverordnung.
• Netherlands - Common (algemeen) ^{[7] [8]}
• Serbia
• Russia
• Sweden - not so common, scattered occurrence ^[9]
• British Isles - mostly in England

Biotope: water bodies and slower streams.

References

1. Van Damme, D. (2011). "Unio pictorum". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2011: e.T155543A4795613. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2011-2.RLTS.T155543A4795613.en . Retrieved 19 November 2021.
2. MolluscaBase eds. (2023). MolluscaBase. Unio pictorum (Linnaeus, 1758). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=234102 on 2023-01-09
3. (in Czech) Horsák M., Juřičková L., Beran L., Čejka T. & Dvořák L. (2010). "Komentovaný seznam měkkýšů zjištěných ve volné přírodě České a Slovenské republiky. [Annotated list of mollusc species recorded outdoors in the Czech and Slovak Republics]". Malacologica Bohemoslovaca , Suppl. 1: 1-37. PDF.
4. Juřičková L., Horsák M. & Beran L., 2001: Check-list of the molluscs (Mollusca) of the Czech Republic. Acta Soc. Zool. Bohem., 65: 25-40.
5. "Red List of the molluscs (Mollusca) of the Czech Republic".
6. (in German) Glöer P. & Meier-Brook C. (2003) Süsswassermollusken. DJN, pp. 134, page 109, ISBN   3-923376-02-2
7. "Schildersmossel - Unio pictorum".
8. "Natuurinformatie - Vragen".
9. Painter's mussel - Naturhistoriska riksmuseet

External links

• Media related to Unio pictorum at Wikimedia Commons
• biolib.cz
• clade.acnatsci.org Archived 2007-03-12 at the Wayback Machine

Right and left valve of the same specimen:

• 
  Unio pictorum deshayesii
  Right valve
• 
  Unio pictorum deshayesii
  Left valve

• 
  Unio pictorum latirostris
  Right valve
• 
  Unio pictorum latirostris
  Left valve