Viviparidae, sometimes known as the river snails or mystery snails, are a

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

of large

operculate The operculum (; ) is a corneous or calcareous anatomical structure like a trapdoor that exists in many (but not all) groups of sea snails and freshwater snails, and also in a few groups of land snails; the structure is found in some marine a ...

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, 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 ...

mollusk 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 e ...

s. This family is classified in the informal group

Architaenioglossa Architaenioglossa is a taxonomic group of snails which have gills and often an operculum. They are primarily land and freshwater gastropod mollusks within the clade Caenogastropoda. This " informal group" has been shown to be polyphyletic in a s ...

according to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005.

Distribution

This family occurs nearly worldwide in temperate and tropical regions, with the exception that they are absent from

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

. There are two genera of Viviparidae in Africa: ''

Bellamya ''Bellamya'' was a supertanker, built in 1976 by Chantiers de l'Atlantique at Saint-Nazaire for the French branch of Shell Oil. She was the second Batillus class supertanker. ''Bellamya'', together with her sister ships ''Batillus, Pierre Guil ...

'' and ''

Neothauma ''Neothauma '' is a genus of freshwater snail with a gill and an operculum, an aquatic gastropod mollusc in the subfamily Bellamyinae of the family Viviparidae. MolluscaBase eds. (2021). MolluscaBase. Neothauma E. A. Smith, 1880. Accessed ...

''. The oldest known vivparid is ''Viviparus langtonensis'' from the

Middle Jurassic The Middle Jurassic is the second epoch of the Jurassic Period. It lasted from about 174.1 to 163.5 million years ago. Fossils of land-dwelling animals, such as dinosaurs, from the Middle Jurassic are relatively rare, but geological formations co ...

of England. The oldest records from the Southern Hemisphere is from the Late Jurassic Talbragar fossil beds of Australia.

Taxonomy

The family Viviparidae contains 3 subfamilies (according to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005): * Viviparinae Gray, 1847 (1833) - synonyms: Paludinidae Fitzinger, 1833 (inv.); Kosoviinae Atanackovic, 1859 (n.a.) * Bellamyinae Rohrbach, 1937 - synonym: Amuropaludinidae Starobogatov, Prozorova, Bogatov & Sayenko, 2004 (n.a.) * Lioplacinae Gill, 1863 - synonym: Campelomatinae Thiele, 1929

Genera

Genera within the family Viviparidae include: subfamily Viviparinae Gray, 1847 * '' Galizgia'' Mikhaylovskiy, 1903 * † '' Kosovia'' Atanacković, 1959 * '' Rivularia'' Heude, 1890 * '' Trochopaludina'' Starobogatov, 1985 * ''

Tulotoma ''Tulotoma magnifica'', common name the Alabama live-bearing snail or tulotoma, is a species of large freshwater snail, an aquatic gastropod mollusk in the family Viviparidae. ''Tulotoma'' is a monotypic genus, in other words, this is the on ...

'' Haldeman, 1840 * ''

Viviparus ''Viviparus'', common name the river snails, is a genus of large, freshwater snails with an operculum, aquatic gastropod mollusks.Bouchet, P. (2014). Viviparus Montfort, 1810. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www ...

'' Montfort, 1810 -

type genus In biological taxonomy, the type genus is the genus which defines a biological family and the root of the family name. Zoological nomenclature According to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, "The name-bearing type of a nominal f ...

subfamily Bellamyinae Rohrbach, 1937 * ''

Amuropaludina ''Amuropaludina'' is a genus of freshwater snails which have a gill and an operculum, aquatic gastropod mollusks in the family Viviparidae Viviparidae, sometimes known as the river snails or mystery snails, are a family of large opercula ...

'' Moskvicheva, 1979 * ''

Angulyagra ''Angulyagra'' is a genus of gastropods belonging to the family Viviparidae. The species of this genus are found in Southern Asia. Species: *'' Angulyagra boettgeri'' *'' Angulyagra burroughiana'' *'' Angulyagra costata'' *'' Angulyagra duch ...

'' Rao, 1931(file created 29 July 2010
FRESH WATER MOLLUSCAN SPECIES IN INDIA
11 pp. accessed 31 July 2010. * '' Anulotaia'' Brandt, 1968 * ''

Anularya ''Anularya'' is a genus of large operculate freshwater snails, aquatic gastropod mollusks in the family Viviparidae. Distribution The extant species of this genus appear to be endemic to Fuxian Lake, Xingyun Lake, Qilu Lake, Datun Lake and ...

'' Zhang & Chen, 2015 * † '' Apameaus'' Sivan, Heller & van Damme, 2006 This Pliocene-Pleistocene genus contains only one species '' Apameaus apameae'' Sivan, Heller & van Damme, 2006 * ''

'' Jousseame, 1886 - type genus of the subfamily * '' Boganmargarya'' Thach, 2018 * '' Cipangopaludina'' Hannibal, 1912 * '' Eyriesia'' P. Fischer, 1885 * '' Filopaludina'' Habe, 1964 * ''Heterogen'' Annandale, 1921 - with the only species '' Heterogen longispira'' (E. A. Smith, 1886) * '' Idiopoma''

Pilsbry Henry Augustus Pilsbry (7 December 1862 – 26 October 1957) was an American biologist, malacologist and carcinologist, among other areas of study. He was a dominant presence in many fields of invertebrate taxonomy for the better part of a centu ...

, 1901 * '' Larina'' Adams, 1851 * ''

Margarya ''Margarya'' is a genus of large operculate freshwater snails, aquatic gastropod mollusks in the family Viviparidae.Bouchet, P. (2014). Margarya G. Nevill, 1877. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.or ...

'' Nevill, 1877 * '' Mekongia'' Crosse & Fischer, 1876 * '' Neclarina'' Iredale, 1943 * '' Notopala'' Cotton, 1935River Snail (''Notopala sublineata'')
accessed 26 September 2010 * ''

Sinotaia ''Sinotaia'' is a genus of large operculum (gastropod), operculate freshwater snails, Aquatic animal, aquatic gastropod mollusks in the family Viviparidae. Distribution Distribution of the genus ''Sinotaia'' include southeast Asia. Species Spe ...

'' Haas, 1939 * '' Taia'' Annandale, 1918 * † '' Temnotaia'' Annandale, 1919 * ''

Tchangmargarya ''Tchangmargarya'' is a genus of large operculate freshwater snails, aquatic gastropod mollusks in the family Viviparidae. Taxonomy ''Tchangmargarya'' originally was a subgenus of ''Margarya'', and is elevated to a full genus based on molecu ...

'' He, 2013 * '' Torotaia'' Haas, 1939 * '' Trochotaia'' Brandt, 1974 subfamily Lioplacinae Gill, 1863 * ''

Campeloma ''Campeloma'' is a genus of gilled operculate freshwater snails in the family Viviparidae.Bouchet, P. (2014). Campeloma Rafinesque, 1819. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails& ...

'' Rafinesque, 1819 * '' Lioplax'' Troschel, 1856 subfamily ? * † '' Albianopalin'' Hamilton-Bruce, Smith & Gowlett-Holmes, 2002Hamilton-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'' 35': 193–203
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Albian The Albian is both an age of the geologic timescale and a stage in the stratigraphic column. It is the youngest or uppermost subdivision of the Early/Lower Cretaceous Epoch/Series. Its approximate time range is 113.0 ± 1.0 Ma to 100.5 ± 0.9 M ...

, New South Wales * ''

'' E. A. Smith, 1880Brown D. S. (1994). ''Freshwater Snails of Africa and their Medical Importance''.

Taylor & Francis Taylor & Francis Group is an international company originating in England that publishes books and academic journals. Its parts include Taylor & Francis, Routledge, F1000 (publisher), F1000 Research or Dovepress. It is a division of Informa ...

. . * '' Siamopaludina'' Brandt, 1968 ;Genera brought into synonymy: * ''Centrapala'' Cotton, 1935: synonym of '' Larina'' A. Adams, 1855 * ''Contectiana'' Bourguignat, 1880: synonym of ''

'' Montfort, 1810 * ''Eularina'' Iredale, 1943: synonym of '' Larina'' A. Adams, 1855 * subfamily † Kosoviinae Atanacković, 1959: synonym of Viviparidae Gray, 1847 * ''Lecythoconcha'' Annandale, 1920: synonym of '' Cipangopaludina'' Hannibal, 1912 * ''Metohia'' Popović, 1964 : (junior homonym, no replacement name available in 2014) * ''Notopalena'' Iredale, 1943: synonym of '' Notopala'' Cotton, 1935 * ''Paludina'' Férussac, 1812: synonym of ''

'' Montfort, 1810 * ''Siamopaludina'' Brandt, 1968 : synonym of ''Filopaludina (Siamopaludina)'' Brandt, 1968 represented as '' Filopaludina'' Habe, 1964 * ''Vivipara'' : synonym of ''

'' Montfort, 1810

Life cycle

Life spans have been reported from 3 to 11 years in various species of Viviparidae.

References

External links

Ju-Guang Wang, Dong Zhang, Ivan Jakovlić, Wei-Min Wang, ''Sequencing of the complete mitochondrial genomes of eight freshwater snail species exposes pervasive paraphyly within the Viviparidae family (Caenogastropoda)''; PLOS, One, July 25, 2017
* {{Authority control Taxa named by John Edward Gray Gastropod families