''Unio'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of medium-sized

freshwater mussel Freshwater bivalves are molluscs of the order Bivalvia that inhabit freshwater ecosystems. They are one of the two main groups of freshwater molluscs, along with freshwater snails. The majority of bivalve molluscs are saltwater species that l ...

aquatic Aquatic means relating to water; living in or near water or taking place in water; does not include groundwater, as "aquatic" implies an environment where plants and animals live. Aquatic(s) may also refer to: * Aquatic animal, either vertebrate ...

bivalve Bivalvia () or bivalves, in previous centuries referred to as the Lamellibranchiata and Pelecypoda, is a class (biology), class of aquatic animal, aquatic molluscs (marine and freshwater) that have laterally compressed soft bodies enclosed b ...

mollusk Mollusca is a phylum of protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum after Arthropoda. The ...

s in the family

Unionidae The Unionidae are a Family (biology), family of freshwater mussels, the largest in the order Unionida, the bivalve molluscs sometimes known as river mussels, or simply as unionids. The range of distribution for this family is world-wide. It is a ...

, the river mussels. They are found throughout

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

, and the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

, with some species introduced to

East Asia East Asia is a geocultural region of Asia. It includes China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan, plus two special administrative regions of China, Hong Kong and Macau. The economies of Economy of China, China, Economy of Ja ...

. Fossil species are also known from the

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately 143.1 Mya. ...

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

. ''Unio'' is the

type Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * ...

genus of the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Species

Species in the genus ''Unio'' include: *'' Unio abyssinicus'' Martens, 1866 *'' Unio bruguierianus'' Bourguignat, 1853 *'' Unio caffer'' Krauss, 1848 *'' Unio cariei'' –

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

Bouchet, P. & von Cosel, R. 1996.
Unio cariei

2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
Downloaded on 7 August 2007. (no longer recognised) *'' Unio courtillieri'' Hattemann, 1859 *''

Unio crassus ''Unio crassus'', the thick shelled river mussel, is a species of freshwater mussel, an aquatic bivalve mollusk in the family Unionidae, the river mussels.MolluscaBase eds. (2023). MolluscaBase. Unio crassus Philipsson, 1788. Accessed through: Wo ...

'' Philipsson, 1788 (Thick shelled river mussel) - near threatened *'' Unio damascensis'' Lea, 1863 *'' Unio delicatus'' Lea, 1863 *''

Unio delphinus ''Unio delphinus'' is a species of bivalve belonging to the family Unionidae.MolluscaBase eds. (2023). MolluscaBase. Unio delphinus Spengler, 1793. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: https://marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxd ...

'' Spengler, 1793 *'' Unio dembeae'' Reeve, 1865 *'' Unio durieui'' Deshayes, 1847 *'' Unio elongatulus'' C. Pfeiffer, 1825 *'' Unio eucirrus'' Bourguignat, 1857 *'' Unio foucauldianus'' Pallary, 1936 *''

Unio gibbus ''Unio gibbus'' is a species of bivalve belonging to the family Unionidae The Unionidae are a Family (biology), family of freshwater mussels, the largest in the order Unionida, the bivalve molluscs sometimes known as river mussels, or simply a ...

'' Spengler, 1793 *'' Unio hueti'' Bourguignat, 1855 *'' Unio ionicus'' Drouët, 1879 *'' Unio mancus''

Lamarck Jean-Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet, chevalier de Lamarck (1 August 1744 – 18 December 1829), often known simply as Lamarck (; ), was a French naturalist, biologist, academic, and soldier. He was an early proponent of the idea that biolo ...

, 1819 * '' Unio meridionalis'' Drouët, 1883 *''

Unio pictorum ''Unio pictorum'', the painter's mussel, is a species of medium-sized freshwater mussel, an Aquatic animal, aquatic bivalve mollusk in the family (biology), family Unionidae, the river mussels. MolluscaBase eds. (2023). MolluscaBase. Unio picto ...

'' (

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

1758 Events January–March * January 1 – Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus (Carl von Linné) publishes in Stockholm the first volume (''Animalia'') of the 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'', the starting point of modern zoologic ...

) (Painter's mussel) *'' Unio ravoisieri'' Deshayes, 1848 *'' Unio sesirmensis'' Kobelt, 1913 *'' Unio terminalis'' Bourguignat, 1852 *'' Unio tigridis'' Bourguignat, 1852 *'' Unio tumidiformis'' Castro, 1885 *'' Unio tumidus'' Philipsson, 1788 (Swollen river mussel) *'' Unio turtoni'' (='' Unio mancus'')

References

External links

* Bivalve genera {{Unionidae-stub