Thiaridae

Thiaridae
Temporal range: Lower Cretaceous[1] or Eocene-Recent[2]
A live individual of Red-rimmed melania, Melanoides tuberculata, crawling on the glass of an aquarium
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
(unranked): clade Caenogastropoda

clade Sorbeoconcha
Superfamily: Cerithioidea
Family: Thiaridae
Gill, 1871 (1823)
Diversity
about 110 extant species[3]
Synonyms

Melaniidae Children, 1823[4]
Hemisininae P. Fischer & Crosse, 1891
Melanoididae Ihering, 1909[5]
Pyrguliferidae Delpey, 1941 (n.a.)
Aylacostomatinae Parodiz, 1969[6]
Pachymelaniidae Bandel & Kowalke, 1999[7]

Thiaridae, common name thiarids, is a family of tropical freshwater snails with an operculum, aquatic gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Cerithioidea.

According to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi (2005) the family Thiaridae has no subfamilies.[8]

Contents

Taxonomy

Many species of freshwater snails that are characterized by a turreted shell were originally placed within the genus Melania Lamarck, 1799. This genus as delimited by authors of the late 19th and early 20th century contained hundreds of species and was successively split into different groupings.[9] Over time, infrageneric groups (subgenera) were elevated to the rank of independent genera and the genus Melania was elevated to the rank of a family, Melanidae.[10] However, the genus name Melania Lamarck, 1799 was demonstrated to be a junior synonym of the genus name Thiara Röding, 1798. Consequently, the family had to be renamed Thiaridae. Moreover, the Melanidae as traditionally circumscribed were found to be polyphyletic containing species from many different groups, which were successively recognized as distinct families, such as the Pachychilidae, Semisulcospiridae, Pleuroceridae, Melanopsidae, and Paludomidae. Therefore, the Thiaridae as currently circumscribed contain fewer species than the Melaniidae.[11]

Distribution

This family of snails is found worldwide and are particularly diverse in the tropics and subtropics.[1]

Ecology

They are freshwater inhabitants of temperate and warm zones.[1]

Thiaridae are partly viviparous, partly ovoviviparous.[1] Many, but not all species are parthenogenetic.[11]

Genera

Genera in the family Thiaridae include:

References

This article incorporates public domain text from the reference[1]

  1. ^ a b c d e "Family summary for Thiaridae". AnimalBase, last modified 5 September 2006, accessed 14 April 2011.
  2. ^ a b c d e Bandel K. & Kowalke T. (1997). "Eocene Melanotarebia n.g. and its relation among modern Thiaridae (Caenogastropoda: Cerithioidea)". N. Jb. Geol. Paläont. Mh., Stuttgart 11: 683-695, 10 figs. abstract.
  3. ^ Strong E. E., Colgan D. J., Healy J. M., Lydeard C., Ponder W. F. & Glaubrecht M. (2011). "Phylogeny of the gastropod superfamily Cerithi­oidea using morphology and molecules". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 162(1): 43-89. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2010.00670.x.
  4. ^ Children (1823). Quarternary Journal of Science, Literature & Arts 15: 243.
  5. ^ Ihering (1909). Journal de Conchlyliologie 57(4): 296.
  6. ^ Parodiz (1969). Annals of the Carnegie Museum 40: 141.
  7. ^ Bandel & Kowalke (1999). Helgoland Marine Research 53: 133.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Bouchet P., Rocroi J.-P., Frýda J., Hausdorf B., Ponder W., Valdés Á. & Warén A. (2005). "Classification and nomenclator of gastropod families". Malacologia: International Journal of Malacology (Hackenheim, Germany: ConchBooks) 47 (1-2): 1–397. ISBN 3925919724. ISSN 0076-2997. http://www.archive.org/details/malacologia47122005inst. 
  9. ^ Brot A. (1874-79). Die Melaniaceen (Melanidae) in Abbildungen nach der Natur mit Beschreibungen. Nürnberg, Bauer & Raspe.
  10. ^ Thiele J. (1929). Teil 1. Loricata; Gastropoda: Prosobranchia. Handbuch der Systematischen Weichtierkunde. Jena, Gustav Fischer Verlag. 1: 1-376.
  11. ^ a b Glaubrecht M. (1996). Evolutionsökologie und Systematik am Beispiel von Süß- und Brackwasserschnecken (Mollusca: Caenogastropoda: Cerithioidea): Ontogenese-Strategien, paläontologische Befunde und historische Zoogeographie. Leiden, Backhuys.
  12. ^ Vázquez A. A. & Perera S. (2010). "Endemic Freshwater molluscs of Cuba and their conservation status". Tropical Conservation Science 3(2): 190-199. HTM, PDF.

Further reading

External links