Species diversity of unionid mussels (Mollusca: Bivalvia: Unionidae) as a bioindicator of the state water environment of river basins of Ukraine

Abstract

Species diversity and frequency index of bivalve mollusks’ of unionid family are researched within river basins of Ukraine. The largest frequency index of mussels is identified in the Prypiat and Desna basins (84 and 79% respectively), then (as the indicator declines) – the Dnieper and Severskiy Donets basins (74 and 67%), the Southern Bug and Danube (47 and 46%), the Southern and Western Bug (47 and 28%), the Crimea (17%). No mollusks were found in the Azov basin at all. Most often (33%) there were found groups consisting of only three unpretentious species (Unio pictorum, U. tumidus, Anodonta anatina). In general, settlements from one to three species make up 70% of all researched collecting sites. Settlements formed by four species are identified only in 23% of habitats. Only 6% of settlements consisted of five aboriginal species and about 1% – of six. Locations where six species lived together were identified only in the Danube and Prypiat basins. There are no settlements of five species in the Western Bug and Desna basins at all, and there are not any even four species settlements in the Crimea. The obtained data can be used for organizing environmental activities and assessing water environment quality