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.

Thick shelled river mussel
Unio crassus from Lužnice River, Czech Republic
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Bivalvia
Order: Unionida
Family: Unionidae
Genus: Unio
Species:
U. crassus
Binomial name
Unio crassus
Philipsson in Retzius, 1788[2]

Ecology

As part of newly discovered reproductive behaviour, this mollusc crawls up to the edge of the water, exposing its excurrent aperture, and then lets loose a stream of water. The fountain of water often contains glochidia, and it is suggested that this spurting behavior may facilitate dispersal of mussel larvae[3] (video).[4]

Decline

The thick shelled river mussel declined during the 20th century everywhere in Europe due to deteriorating water quality,[5] habitat fragmentation and host fish limitation.[6]

Distribution

Its native distribution is Europe and Western Asia.[1][7]

References

  1. Van Damme, D. (2011). "Unio crassus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2011. Retrieved 22 April 2013.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  2. "Unio crassus Philipsson in Retzius, 1788". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  3. Vicentini, Heinrich (2005-11-01). "Unusual spurting behaviour of the freshwater mussel Unio crassus". Journal of Molluscan Studies. 71 (4): 409–410. doi:10.1093/mollus/eyi045. ISSN 0260-1230.
  4. Karel Douda (2017-10-26), Spurting Mussel (Unio crassus), retrieved 2017-10-26
  5. Douda, Karel (2010). "Effects of nitrate nitrogen pollution on Central European unionid bivalves revealed by distributional data and acute toxicity testing". Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems. 20 (2): 189–197. doi:10.1002/aqc.1076.
  6. Douda, Karel; Horký, P.; Bílý, M.; Gompper, Matthew; Johnson, Jerald (2012). "Host limitation of the thick-shelled river mussel: identifying the threats to declining affiliate species". Animal Conservation. 15 (5): 536–544. doi:10.1111/j.1469-1795.2012.00546.x.
  7. "Unio crassus Philipson, 1788". Fauna Europaea. Fauna Europaea Secretariat, Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  8. (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.
  9. Juřičková L., Horsák M. & Beran L., 2001: Check-list of the molluscs (Mollusca) of the Czech Republic. Acta Soc. Zool. Bohem., 65: 25-40.
  10. Red List of the molluscs (Mollusca) of the Czech Republic http://mollusca.sav.sk/malacology/redlist.htm
  11. Dušek J., Hošek M. & Kolářová J. (2007) Hodnotící zpráva o stavu z hlediska ochrany evropsky významných druhů a typů přírodních stanovišť v České republice za rok 2004-2006. - Ochrana přírody, 62(5): appendix 5:I-IV. (in Czech language)
  12. "Threatened and Near Threatened molluscs". 2001. Archived from the original on 2013-05-11.
  13. "Recherche de sites par espèce: Invertébrés: Unio crassus (Unio crassus)". 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-09-21. Retrieved 2007-05-15.
  14. Glöer P. & Meier-Brook C. (2003) Süsswassermollusken. DJN, pp. 134, strana 109, ISBN 3-923376-02-2
  15. MinLNV>Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality - Nature Law - Bataafse stroommossel (Unio crassus). Accessed at the ministries website
  16. "Anemoon > Flora en Fauna > Soorteninformatie". www.anemoon.org.
  17. Polish Red Data Book of Animals http://www.iop.krakow.pl/pckz/opis.asp?id=130&je=en
  18. (in Czech) Měkkýši (Mollusca) České republiky a Slovenska Archived 2012-05-29 at Archive.today
  19. "Thick shelled river mussel - Naturhistoriska riksmuseet". Archived from the original on 2007-03-13. Retrieved 2007-03-28.
  20. "Licensinfo - Habitatarter.dk". www.habitatarter.dk.
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