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.
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:
- â Unio pictorum alexeevi <small>Mangikian, 1929</small>
- â Unio pictorum pseudorumanus <small>Chepalyga, 1967</small>
- â Unio pictorum rumanoides <small>Chepalyga, 1967</small>
Synonyms
- Limnium pictorum<small>(Linnaeus, 1758)</small> ÷
- Lymnium pictorum <small>(Linnaeus, 1758)</small> ÷
- Mya nodosa <small>Gmelin, 1791</small> (a junior synonym)
- Mya ovalis <small>Philipsson, 1788</small> (a junior synonym)
- Mya pictorum <small>Linnaeus, 1758</small> (original combination)
- Unio (Unio) kalmykorum <small>Bogachev, 1924</small> (junior subjective synonym)
- Unio (Unio) limosus <small>Nilsson, 1822</small> (a junior synonym)
- Unio (Unio) pictorum <small>(Linnaeus, 1758)</small> ÷
- Unio (Unio) protractus <small>Lindholm, 1932</small> (junior subjective synonym)
- Unio (Unio) rostrata <small>Lamarck, 1819</small> (a junior synonym)
- Unio annulatus <small>Kobelt, 1911</small> (a junior synonym)
- Unio ascanius <small>Kobelt, 1912</small> (junior synonym)
- Unio deshayesii <small>Michaud, 1831</small> (a junior synonym)
- Unio gaudioni <small>Drouët, 1881</small> (junior synonym)
- Unio gentilis <small>F. Haas, 1911</small>junior subjective synonym
- Unio inflatus <small>Studer, 1820</small> (a junior synonym)
- Unio kalmykorum <small>Bogachev, 1924</small> (a junior synonym)
- Unio latirostris <small>Küster, 1853</small> (a junior synonym)
- Unio limosus <small>Nilsson, 1822</small> (a junior synonym)
- Unio limosus behningi <small>Starobogatov & Pirogov, 1970</small> (a junior synonym)
- Unio lindholmi <small>Zhadin, 1938</small> (a junior synonym)
- Unio longirostris <small>Rossmässler, 1836</small> ÷
- Unio longirostris schrenckianus <small>Clessin, 1880</small> (a junior synonym)
- Unio maltzani <small>Küster, 1854</small> (a junior synonym)
- Unio pictorum okensis <small>Zhadin, 1938</small> (a junior synonym)
- Unio pictorum var. grandis <small>Rossmässler, 1842</small> (a junior synonym)
- Unio pictorum var. okae <small>Kobelt, 1911</small> (invalid; junior homonym of Unio...)
- Unio pictorum var. okensis <small>Zhadin, 1938</small> (junior synonym)
- Unio pictorum var. pachyodon <small>H. Jordan, 1879</small> junior subjective synonym
- Unio pictorum var. pygmaeus <small>Zhadin, 1938</small> (a junior synonym)
- Unio pictorum var. tumens <small>de Joannis, 1859</small> (a junior synonym)
- Unio pictorum var. vinceleus <small>de Joannis, 1859</small> (a junior synonym)
- Unio platyrhynchus <small>Rossmässler, 1835</small> (a junior synonym)
- Unio ponderosus <small>Rossmässler, 1842</small> (a junior synonym)
- Unio praeposterus <small>Küster, 1853</small> (a junior synonym)
- Unio protractus <small>Lindholm, 1932</small> ÷
- â Unio protractus subpictorum <small>Lindholm, 1932</small> (subjective synonym)
- Unio quinqueannulatus <small>Küster, 1854</small> (junior synonym)
- Unio rostrata <small>Lamarck, 1819</small> ÷
- Unio rostratus <small>Lamarck, 1819</small> (wrong gender agreement)
- Unio schrenkianus <small>Clessin, 1880</small> (a junior synonym)
- Unio voltzii <small>Kobelt, 1911</small> (invalid; not Koch & Dunker, 1837)
Distribution
The native distribution of this species is Europe and Siberia (Russia).
- Croatia
- Czech Republic - in Bohemia, in Moravia, least concern (LC); Czech code, Decree for implementation, No. 395/1992 Sb. (and No. 175/2006 Sb.) - Critically Threatened species.
- Slovakia - not in red lists
- Estonia â frequent.
- Germany
- endangered (gefährdet)
- Listed as specially protected species in annex 1 in Bundesartenschutzverordnung.
- Netherlands - Common (algemeen)
- Serbia
- Russia
- Sweden - not so common, scattered occurrence
- British Isles - mostly in England
Biotope: water bodies and slower streams.
References
External links
<div align=center> Right and left valve of the same specimen:
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