Painter's shell
| Painter's shell | ||||||||||||
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Painter's shell ( Unio pictorum ) |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Unio pictorum | ||||||||||||
| ( Linnaeus , 1758) |
The painter's mussel ( Unio pictorum ) is a type of mussel from the family of river and pond mussels . These shells were previously used to mix colors in painting, hence the name.
features
The shell reaches a length of 72 to 90 millimeters, a height of 23 to 31 millimeters and a thickness of 23 to 31 millimeters. It is very elongated and more than twice as long as it is high. The top and bottom edges are almost parallel to each other. The lower edge is usually slightly curved inwards. The rear end of the shell is narrowed in a wedge shape. The vertebrae protrude moderately. The wall of the shell is thick and yellowish green to brownish.
Occurrence
The painter's mussel habitat is slowly flowing and standing water. It occurs in Europe, with the exception of the extreme south and north. In Germany, the painter's mussel is classified as a national type of responsibility within the federal government's national strategy for biological diversity.
Way of life
The painter's mussel is usually separated from the sexes. In the gill space of female animals, around 300,000 to 400,000 eggs develop in special compartments. The breeding season in summer lasts about four to six weeks. The larvae are around 0.25 millimeters in size. They are expelled from the mussels with the water they breathe and sink to the bottom of the water. If a fish tries to eat them, they hang onto its gills by means of their hooked shell flaps. The gill leaves grow around them. Here they live as parasites for a period of three to eleven weeks , after which they dissolve again as finished small mussels. Sexual maturity is reached at three to four years of age. The maximum age of painter mussels is seven to ten years. Painter clams are hosts for the bitterling , which lays its eggs in them.
supporting documents
- Herbert W. Ludwig: Animals and plants of our waters . BLV, Munich 2003, ISBN 3-405-16487-7 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Leaflet on the painter's shell from the Bavarian State Office for the Environment
- ↑ Species in particular responsibility of Germany on the homepage of the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation, accessed on June 3, 2016
Web links
- Unio pictorum in the Red List of Endangered Species of the IUCN 2013.1. Posted by: Van Damme, D., 2011. Retrieved November 22, 2013.