Unio pictorum

Unio pictorum is a mollusc alive Bivalve out of fresh water, Europe and in the west of the Asia. It shares the common noun of “fresh water Mould” with other members of the kind Unio . One gives him also the more specific name of “mulette of the painters”, or “Unio of the painters”, because the painters formerly used his shell to mix their colors.

The adult size is from approximately 6 to 14 cm.

Breathing is watery, and is done by gills.

The animal can resist temperatures going of 0 with 25°C.

The food and made up of Plankton or particles floating in water.

The unio are bisexués. The eggs are very small and numerous, and are incubated by the females in their cavity palléale. After the blossoming, the larvae are rejected by their mother. The continuation of their life cycle require that it be enkystent in the gills of a fish which will have introduced them. Really it is not a question of parasitism, because this residence does not seem to harm their host. When the young person Unio reached his final form (but of a tiny size), it leaves the cyst and fall on the ground, or it continues its development in a more traditional way.

According to the Check List off European Continental Mollusca , there exist three Sous-espèces.

The biotope consists of ponds, ponds, or of river to slow water.

One finds the animal in France. One finds it for example in the channels with slow water of the Paris region (Saint Martin's day, Ourcq, Saint-Denis).

Unio pictorum is punctually in the trade aquarist under the name of “fresh water Mould”, for the aquariums of cool water and the basins of garden.

References

August 1st

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