''Unio pictorum'', the painter's mussel, is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

of medium-sized freshwater

mussel Mussel () is the common name used for members of several families of bivalve molluscs, from saltwater and Freshwater bivalve, freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other ...

, an

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 ...

in 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 ...

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. 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 This species lives in

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 ...

. 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 alexeevi'' Mangikian, 1929 * † ''Unio pictorum pseudorumanus'' Chepalyga, 1967 * † ''Unio pictorum rumanoides'' Chepalyga, 1967

Synonyms

* L''imnium pictorum''(Linnaeus, 1758) · * ''Lymnium pictorum'' (Linnaeus, 1758) · * ''Mya nodosa'' Gmelin, 1791 (a junior synonym) * ''Mya ovalis'' Philipsson, 1788 (a junior synonym) * ''Mya pictorum'' Linnaeus, 1758 (original combination) * ''Unio (Unio) kalmykorum'' Bogachev, 1924 (junior subjective synonym) * ''Unio (Unio) limosus'' Nilsson, 1822 (a junior synonym) * ''Unio (Unio) pictorum'' (Linnaeus, 1758) · * ''Unio (Unio) protractus'' Lindholm, 1932 (junior subjective synonym) * ''Unio (Unio) rostrata'' Lamarck, 1819 (a junior synonym) * ''Unio annulatus'' Kobelt, 1911 (a junior synonym) * ''Unio ascanius'' Kobelt, 1912 (junior synonym) * ''Unio deshayesii'' Michaud, 1831 (a junior synonym) * ''Unio gaudioni'' Drouët, 1881 (junior synonym) * ''Unio gentilis'' F. Haas, 1911junior subjective synonym * ''Unio inflatus'' Studer, 1820 (a junior synonym) * ''Unio kalmykorum'' Bogachev, 1924 (a junior synonym) * ''Unio latirostris'' Küster, 1853 (a junior synonym) * ''Unio limosus'' Nilsson, 1822 (a junior synonym) * ''Unio limosus behningi'' Starobogatov & Pirogov, 1970 (a junior synonym) * ''Unio lindholmi'' Zhadin, 1938 (a junior synonym) * ''Unio longirostris'' Rossmässler, 1836 · * ''Unio longirostris schrenckianus'' Clessin, 1880 (a junior synonym) * ''Unio maltzani'' Küster, 1854 (a junior synonym) * ''Unio pictorum okensis'' Zhadin, 1938 (a junior synonym) * ''Unio pictorum var. grandis'' Rossmässler, 1842 (a junior synonym) * ''Unio pictorum var. okae'' Kobelt, 1911 (invalid; junior homonym of Unio...) * ''Unio pictorum var. okensis'' Zhadin, 1938 (junior synonym) * ''Unio pictorum var. pachyodon'' H. Jordan, 1879 junior subjective synonym * ''Unio pictorum var. pygmaeus'' Zhadin, 1938 (a junior synonym) * ''Unio pictorum var. tumens'' de Joannis, 1859 (a junior synonym) * ''Unio pictorum var. vinceleus'' de Joannis, 1859 (a junior synonym) * ''Unio platyrhynchus'' Rossmässler, 1835 (a junior synonym) * ''Unio ponderosus'' Rossmässler, 1842 (a junior synonym) * ''Unio praeposterus'' Küster, 1853 (a junior synonym) * ''Unio protractus'' Lindholm, 1932 · * † ''Unio protractus subpictorum'' Lindholm, 1932 (subjective synonym) * ''Unio quinqueannulatus'' Küster, 1854 (junior synonym) * ''Unio rostrata'' Lamarck, 1819 · * ''Unio rostratus'' Lamarck, 1819 (wrong gender agreement) * ''Unio schrenkianus'' Clessin, 1880 (a junior synonym) * ''Unio voltzii'' Kobelt, 1911 (invalid; not Koch & Dunker, 1837)

Distribution

The native distribution of this species is

and

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

(Russia). *Croatia *

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

- in Bohemia, in Moravia, Horsák M., Juřičková L., Beran L., Čejka T. & Dvořák L. (2010). "Komentovaný seznam měkkýšů zjištěných ve volné přírodě České a Slovenské republiky. nnotated list of mollusc species recorded outdoors in the Czech and Slovak Republics. ''

Malacologica Bohemoslovaca ''Malacologica Bohemoslovaca'' is a peer-reviewed open access scientific journal covering all aspects of malacology. It was published by the Slovak Academy of Sciences since 2005. It is published by the Department of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of ...

'', Suppl. 1: 1-37
PDF

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been evaluated and categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as not being a focus of wildlife conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wil ...

(LC); Czech code, Decree for implementation, No. 395/1992 Sb. (and No. 175/2006 Sb.) - Critically Threatened species. *

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

- not in red lists *Estonia – frequent. *Germany ** endangered (''gefährdet'') ** Listed as specially protected species in annex 1 in

Bundesartenschutzverordnung The Federal Species Protection Regulations, first adopted on 19 December 1986, is a set of federal regulations in Germany. These regulations protect wild plants and animals. They are the implementing rules promulgated by the government to give forc ...

. * Netherlands - Common (''algemeen'') * Serbia * Russia * Sweden - not so common, scattered occurrencePainter's mussel - Naturhistoriska riksmuseet
/ref> *

British Isles The British Isles are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner Hebrides, Inner and Outer Hebr ...

- mostly in England Biotope: water bodies and slower streams.

References

External links

*
biolib.cz

Right and left valve of the same specimen: Unio pictorum 01.jpg, Unio pictorum deshayesii
Right valve Unio pictorum 02.jpg, Unio pictorum deshayesii
Left valve Unio pictorum 05.jpg, Unio pictorum latirostris
Right valve Unio pictorum 06.jpg, Unio pictorum latirostris
Left valve

pictorum Molluscs of Asia Molluscs of Europe Freshwater bivalves Molluscs described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Unionidae-stub