''Unio'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of medium-sized

freshwater mussel Freshwater bivalves are one kind of freshwater mollusc, along with freshwater snails. They are bivalves that live in fresh water as opposed to salt water, which is the main habitat type for bivalves. The majority of species of bivalve molluscs ...

s, aquatic

bivalve Bivalvia (), in previous centuries referred to as the Lamellibranchiata and Pelecypoda, is a class of marine and freshwater molluscs that have laterally compressed bodies enclosed by a shell consisting of two hinged parts. As a group, bival ...

mollusk Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is e ...

s in the family

Unionidae The Unionidae are a 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 at its most diverse ...

, the river mussels. They are found throughout

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

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

, and the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

, with some species introduced to

East Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea and ...

. 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 Mya. The J ...

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

. ''Unio'' is the type genus of the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Species

Species in the genus ''Unio'' include: *'' Unio abyssinicus'' Martens, 1866 *'' Unio bruguierianus'' Bourguignat, 1853 *''

Unio caffer Unio may refer to: * ''Unio'' (bivalve), a genus of freshwater mussels * ''Unio'' (sternwheeler), a steamboat that operated in Oregon, United States, in 1861, before being renamed ''Union'' * UNI/O, an asynchronous serial bus * UNIO Satu Mare, a ...

'' Krauss, 1848 *'' Unio cariei'' -

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed 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: ...

'' Philipsson, 1788 (Thick shelled river mussel) - near threatened *'' Unio damascensis'' Lea, 1863 *'' Unio delicatus'' Lea, 1863 *'' Unio delphinus'' Spengler, 1793 *'' Unio dembeae'' Reeve, 1865 *''

Unio durieui Unio may refer to: * ''Unio'' (bivalve), a genus of freshwater mussels * ''Unio'' (sternwheeler), a steamboat that operated in Oregon, United States, in 1861, before being renamed ''Union'' * UNI/O, an asynchronous serial bus * UNIO Satu Mare, a ...

'' 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 of freshwater mussels, the largest in the order Unionida, the bivalve molluscs sometimes known as river mussels, or simply as unionids. The ...

'' 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 biolog ...

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

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

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, 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'', the sta ...

) (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