My specimen of Cristaria herculea (Middendorff, 1848) is from the Amur
River system in Russia. Zhadin (1952), in his review of the freshwater
molluscs of the USSR, synonymizes herculea with Cristaria plicata (Leach,
1815) and gives the range of the latter as the Amur basin -  a large area
of China and the former USSR. It is probably the largest unionid in the
world but not the most massive. That title probably resides with the North
American Megalonaias nervosa.

Images of plicata may be found in the mussel gallery in our Division
website (see address below).




At 11:07 AM 10/7/2004 -0700, you wrote:
>Hello all:
>
>
>I would like to obtain information about a big Unionoid species: Cristaria
>hercules. Does anybody has information about habitat, distribution and
>where to find images or additional information in the net?
>
>I have seen several species of Unio with images and information but that
>species still eludes me. I have also seen some of them offered for sale on
>Conchology.be. but I am still curious about that species. Is that the
>largest Unionoid species?
>
>Well, thanks in advance,
>
>Juan Francisco.
>
>
>_____________________________________________________________
>eMail=enigmaMail -> en service från enigma.se
>
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G. Thomas Watters, PhD
Curator of Molluscs
Museum of Biological Diversity
Department of Evolution, Ecology & Organismal Biology
The Ohio State University
1315 Kinnear Road
Columbus, OH 43212 USA
[log in to unmask]
v: 614-292-6170
f: 614-292-7774

Visit the Mollusc Division at:
http://www.biosci.ohio-state.edu/~molluscs/OSUM2

"Let me take you, baby, down to the riverbed,
  Gotta tell you something go right to your head" - Spirit

So join the Freshwater Mollusc Conservation Society at:
http://ellipse.inhs.uiuc.edu/FMCS/index.html

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