| Valvatidae | |
|---|---|
| Drawing of apertural and umbilical view of the shell of Valvata cristata. | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| (unranked): | clade Heterobranchia informal group Lower Heterobranchia |
| Superfamily: | Valvatoidea |
| Family: | Valvatidae J. E. Gray, 1840[1] |
| Diversity | |
| 71 freshwater species[2] | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Borystheniinae Starobogatov, 1983 |
|
Valvatidae, the valve snails, is a taxonomic family of very small freshwater snails with an operculum, aquatic gastropod mollusks.
Contents |
The Valvatidae family is classified within the informal group "Lower Heterobranchia", itself belonging to the clade Heterobranchia (according to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005).
The family Valvatidae has no subfamilies (according to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005).
The type genus is Valvata O.F. Müller, 1774.
Genera in the family Valvatidae include:
Snails in the family Valvatidae are useful for measuring water quality as biological indicators. According to the Biological monitoring working party they have a score of 3, which means that they have quite a high tolerance to pollutants.