Family PHYSIDAE
Compiler and date details
Brian J. Smith, Queen Victoria Museum, Launceston Shannon Reid and Winston F. Ponder, Australian Museum, Sydney
Introduction
This family of freshwater snails is native to Europe, the Nearctic Region and the Neotropical Region. The single Australian species referred to this family was introduced by European settlers. Many sinistral, freshwater snails of the family Planorbidae described from Australia by early workers were incorrectly placed in the genus Physa because of their shell shape. Differentiation of these superfically similar groups is described by Smith & Plant (1981). The single Australian species is found in flowing to non-flowing water and is widely spread in temperate and sub-tropical Australia.
The family is characterized by the thin, sinistral shell, lack of a pseudobranch and the presence of digital processes on the mantle edge along the columellar margin.
General References
Hubendick, B. 1955. Phylogeny in the Planorbidae. Transactions of the Zoological Society of London 28: 453-542
Smith, B.J. & Plant, R.J. 1981. Differentiating the left-handed freshwater snails of south-eastern Australia. Victorian Naturalist 98: 257-260
Stanisic, J. 1998. Family Physidae. pp. 1074-1075 in Beesley, P.L., Ross, G.J.B. & Wells, A. (eds). Mollusca: The Southern Synthesis. Fauna of Australia. Melbourne : CSIRO Publishing Vol. 5(Part B) pp. vi–viii, 565–1234.
History of changes
| Published | As part of group | Action Date | Action Type | Compiler(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12-Feb-2010 | (import) |