De rivierparelmossel, Pseudunio auricularia (Spengler, 1793), levend in het Centrale Loiregebied in Frankrijk

In september 2001, the presence of living specimens of Pseudunio auricularia in the river Vienne (Loire riversystem) in France, as already indicated before by J.A.J.H. Nienhuis, has been confirmed by the author. This species is a hard water relative of Margarilifera margaritifera, the freshwater pearlmussel, which occurs mainly in soft water. To his surprise, in an empty collected complete specimen that still contained some remains of the animal, he discovered a pearl. During several visits in a period of three years, several empty complete specimens and single valves were collected not far from the location where the living mussels were detected.