| Unionida Temporal range:
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|---|---|
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| A live individual of Anodonta anatina, the duck mussel | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Bivalvia |
| Subterclass: | Palaeoheterodonta |
| Order: | Unionida Stoliczka, 1871 |
| Families | |
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See text | |
Unionida is a monophyletic order of freshwater mussels, aquatic bivalve molluscs.[1][2][3] The order includes most of the larger freshwater mussels, including the freshwater pearl mussels. The most common families are the Unionidae and the Margaritiferidae. All have in common a larval stage that is temporarily parasitic on fish, nacreous shells, high in organic matter, that may crack upon drying out, and siphons too short to permit the animal to live deeply buried in sediment.
- ^ Unionida. Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species on 3 February 2009.
- ^ Bieler R., Carter J.G. & Coan E.V. (2010). Classification of Bivalve families. pp. 113–133, in: Bouchet P. & Rocroi J.-P. (2010), Nomenclator of Bivalve Families. Malacologia 52(2): 1–184.
- ^ Huber, Markus (2010). Compendium of Bivalves. A Full-color Guide to 3,300 of the World's Marine Bivalves. A Status on Bivalvia after 250 Years of Research. Hackenheim: ConchBooks. pp. 901 pp. + CD. ISBN 978-3-939767-28-2.