''Notopala'' is a genus of moderately large to large,

freshwater snail Freshwater snails are gastropod mollusks which live in fresh water. There are many different families. They are found throughout the world in various habitats, ranging from ephemeral pools to the largest lakes, and from small seeps and springs ...

s with an operculum, aquatic

gastropod The gastropods (), commonly known as snails and slugs, belong to a large taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, from freshwater, and from land. T ...

mollusks in the family Viviparidae, the river snails or mystery snails.

Description

The shell is

dextral Sinistral and dextral, in some scientific fields, are the two types of chirality ("handedness") or relative direction. The terms are derived from the Latin words for "left" (''sinister'') and "right" (''dexter''). Other disciplines use different ...

and globose-conic.Hamilton-Bruce R. J., Smith B. J. & Gowlett-Holmes K. L. (2002). "Descriptions of a new genus and two new species of viviparid snails (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Viviparidae) from the Early Cretaceous (middle-late Albian) Griman Creek Formation of Lightning Ridge, northern New South Wales". ''

Records of the South Australian Museum The South Australian Museum is a natural history museum A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, ...

'' 35: 193–203
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/ref> The shell has up to five whorls. The aperture is subovate. The operculum is corneous and

concentric In geometry, two or more objects are said to be concentric, coaxal, or coaxial when they share the same center or axis. Circles, regular polygons and regular polyhedra, and spheres may be concentric to one another (sharing the same center point ...

. Colour is usually yellow, olive green, brown, cream or white and sometimes may have darker spiral bands. Head-foot with long tentacles with eyes on short processes at their outer bases; often pigmented with multiple different colours.

Distribution

The genus of Notopala is native to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. Notopala is found in all states and territories except Tasmania. It occurs throughout Queensland and New South Wales, northern Western Australia and Northern Territory and in the Murray-Darling Basin in Victoria and South Australia.

Habitat and ecology

Generally occurs on fine sediment and/or on and under rocks and logs. Members of Notopala are thought to be grazers of periphyton and occur in slow moving or still waters. Some species are able to

aestivate Aestivation ( la, aestas (summer); also spelled estivation in American English) is a state of animal dormancy, similar to hibernation, although taking place in the summer rather than the winter. Aestivation is characterized by inactivity and a ...

in mud during dry periods.

Species

Species within the genus ''Notopala'' include: * † ''

Notopala albascopularis ''Notopala'' is a genus of moderately large to large, freshwater snails with an operculum, aquatic gastropod mollusks in the family Viviparidae, the river snails or mystery snails. Description The shell is dextral and globose-conic.Hamilto ...

'' (Etheridge, 1902) - synonym: ''Viviparus'' (?) ''albascopularis'' Etheridge, 1902Kear B. P., Hamilton-Bruce R. J., Smith B. J. & Gowlett-Holmes K. L. (2003). "Reassessment of Australia's oldest freshwater snail, ''Viviparus'' (?) ''albascopularis'' Etheridge, 1902 (Mollusca : Gastropoda : Viviparidae), from the Lower Cretaceous (Aptian, Wallumbilla Formation) of White Cliffs, New South Wales". ''

Molluscan Research Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is es ...

'' 23(2): 149–158.
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- from

Aptian The Aptian is an age in the geologic timescale or a stage in the stratigraphic column. It is a subdivision of the Early or Lower Cretaceous Epoch or Series and encompasses the time from 121.4 ± 1.0 Ma to 113.0 ± 1.0 Ma (million years ago), a ...

, Wallumbilla Formation, New South Wales * ''

Notopala ampullaroides ''Notopala'' is a genus of moderately large to large, freshwater snails with an operculum, aquatic gastropod mollusks in the family Viviparidae, the river snails or mystery snails. Description The shell is dextral and globose-conic.Hamilto ...

'' (Reeve, 1863) * ''Notopala essingtonensis'' (Frauenfeld, 1862) * ''

Notopala hanleyi ''Notopala hanleyi'' is a species of large freshwater snail, an aquatic gastropod mollusc in the family Viviparidae. It is also classified as a subspecies ''Notopala sublineata hanleyi''. This species is endemic to Australia and is found across ...

'' (Frauenfeld, 1864) * ''

Notopala kingi ''Notopala'' is a genus of moderately large to large, freshwater snails with an Operculum (gastropod), operculum, Aquatic animal, aquatic gastropod mollusks in the family Viviparidae, the river snails or mystery snails. Description The gastr ...

(A. Adams & Angas, 1864)'' ** ''Notopala kingi'' ''kingi'' (A. Adams & Angas, 1864) ** ''

Notopala kingi suprafasciata ''Notopala'' is a genus of moderately large to large, freshwater snails with an operculum, aquatic gastropod mollusks in the family Viviparidae, the river snails or mystery snails. Description The shell is dextral and globose-conic.Hamilt ...

'' (Tryon, 1866) * ''

Notopala sublineata ''Notopala sublineata'' is a species of large, freshwater snail with an operculum, an aquatic gastropod mollusc in the family Viviparidae, the river snails or mystery snails. This species is endemic to Australia Australia, officially ...

'' Conrad, 1850 ** ''

Notopala sublineata sublineata ''Notopala'' is a genus of moderately large to large, freshwater snails with an operculum, aquatic gastropod mollusks in the family Viviparidae, the river snails or mystery snails. Description The shell is dextral and globose-conic.Hamilto ...

'' Conrad, 1850River Snail (''Notopala sublineata'')
accessed 26 September 2010 ** ''

Notopala sublineata alisoni ''Notopala'' is a genus of moderately large to large, freshwater snails with an operculum, aquatic gastropod mollusks in the family Viviparidae, the river snails or mystery snails. Description The shell is dextral and globose-conic.Hamilto ...

'' (Brazier, 1979) * † ''

Notopala wanjacalda ''Notopala'' is a genus of moderately large to large, freshwater snails with an operculum, aquatic gastropod mollusks in the family Viviparidae, the river snails or mystery snails. Description The shell is dextral and globose-conic.Hamilto ...

'' Cotton, 1935 - from upper Pleistocene near Sunnyside, South Australia * ''

Notopala waterhousii ''Notopala'' is a genus of moderately large to large, freshwater snails with an operculum, aquatic gastropod mollusks in the family Viviparidae, the river snails or mystery snails. Description The shell is dextral and globose-conic.Hamilto ...

'' (Adams & Angus, 1864) * ''

Notopala tricincta ''Notopala'' is a genus of moderately large to large, freshwater snails with an operculum, aquatic gastropod mollusks in the family Viviparidae, the river snails or mystery snails. Description The shell is dextral and globose-conic.Hamilto ...

'' (E. A. Smith, 1882) Note: "Banded species of ''Notopala'' occur in several parts of northern

and Queensland that are similar to ''N. essingtonensis, N. tricincta'' and ''N. kingi'' but are thought to be different species (W. Ponder, unpublished studies). These should be identified simply as ''Notopala'' sp." The type species of the genus ''Notopala'' is '' Paludina hanleyi'' Frauenfeld, 1862, by original designation

References

External links

*https://biodiversity.org.au/afd/taxa/Notopala * http://keys.lucidcentral.org/keys/v3/freshwater_molluscs/Freshwater_Oct18/Media/Html/notopala.htm {{Taxonbar, from=Q7063226 __FORCETOC__ Viviparidae Gastropods of Australia Taxonomy articles created by Polbot