Dianella (gastropod) explained

Dianella is a little-known genus of small freshwater snails with a gill and an operculum, aquatic gastropod molluscs in the family Hydrobiidae.^[1]

Distribution

These are European freshwater snails; they occur in southeastern Europe, from northern Italy, through the Balkans, to the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea

Description

Their relatively big shell has an onic or turriform shape with a common, prominent, spiral sculpture. The radula shows a rhachidian tooth with no basal cusps. Their stomach has a caecal appendix at its pyloric end. They have a Hydrobia-like central nervous system, a simple penis and a characteristic, big seminal receptacle at the end of a prominent spiral of the coiled oviduct.

Species

Species within the genus Dianella include:^{[2] [3]}

• † Dianella gracilis (Pavlović, 1903)
• Dianella schlickum Schütt, 1962
• Dianella thiesseana Kobelt, 1878

Species brought into synonymy:

• † Dianella crassa (Burgerstein, 1877): synonym of † Prososthenia crassa Burgerstein, 1877
• † Dianella nodosa (Burgerstein, 1877): synonym of † Prososthenia nodosa Burgerstein, 1877
• † Dianella reticulata (Burgerstein, 1877): synonym of † Prososthenia reticulata Burgerstein, 1877
• † Dianella suessi (Burgerstein, 1877): synonym of † Prososthenia suessi Burgerstein, 1877

References

• Gude, G.K. (1913). On some preoccupied molluscan names (generic and specific). Proceedings of the Malacological Society of London. 10, 292-293. page(s): 292

Notes and References

1. Web site: Dianella. UniProt. 31 July 2014.
2. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.2. . Downloaded on 31 July 2014.
3. Web site: Genus Dianella . 2014. Roskov Y.. Kunze T.. Orrell T.. Abucay L.. Paglinawan L.. Culham A.. Bailly N.. Kirk P.. Bourgoin T.. Baillargeon G.. Decock W.. De Wever A.. Didžiulis V.. Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life, 2014 Annual Checklist. Species 2000: Naturalis, Leiden, the Netherlands . 31 July 2014.