Bythinellidae Explained

Bythinellidae is a family of small freshwater snails with an operculum, aquatic gastropod molluscs in the order Littorinimorpha.^[1]

Their minute shell is often colored. They are characterized by a calcareous operculum, a lobe on the upper surface of the neck. The ctenidium, the respiratory gill-comb, is very broad. They have a ciliary feeding habit. The kidney has a large extension towards the mantle.^[2]

Genera

Genera in the family Bythinellidae include:

• Bythinella Moquin-Tandon, 1856
• Strandzhia Georgiev & Glöer, 2013
• Terrestribythinella Sitnikova, Starobogatov & V. Anistratenko, 1992

Genera brought into synonymy:

• Acrophlyctis Cossmann, 1888 †: synonym of Bythinella (Acrophlyctis) Cossmann, 1888 † represented as Bythinella Moquin-Tandon, 1856
• Bithinella [sic]: synonym of Bythinella Moquin-Tandon, 1856 (incorrect subsequent spelling)
• Bithynella Moquin-Tandon, 1856: synonym of Bythinella Moquin-Tandon, 1856 (incorrect subsequent spelling)
• Bythynella: synonym of Bythinella Moquin-Tandon, 1856 (invalid: incorrect subsequent spelling)
• Microna Frauenfeld, 1863: synonym of Bythinella Moquin-Tandon, 1856

External links

• Wilke T., Haase M., Hershler R., Liu H.-P., Misof B. & Ponder W. (2013) Pushing short DNA fragments to the limit: Phylogenetic relationships of ‘hydrobioid' gastropods (Caenogastropoda: Rissooidea). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 66: 715-736

Notes and References

1. MolluscaBase eds. (2020). MolluscaBase. Bythinellidae Locard, 1893. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=724571 on 2020-06-27
2. Lilly, M.M.. The mode of life and the structure and functioning of the reproductive ducts of Bithynia tentaculata (L.). Proceedings of the Malacological Society of London. 1953. 30. 4-5. 87–110.