This genus is in need of revision, and the species concepts we have used have not been rigorously tested. This situation can only be resolved by additional molecular and morphological studies involving comprehensive sampling.
A small to medium-sized shell with the spire raised and the tops of the whorls convex and more rounded compared to A. carinata, with which it often occurs. There is no obvious spiral sculpture.
Amerianna cumingii (H. Adams, 1861)
Common name: Cuming's pouch snail.
Class Gastropoda
Infraclass Heterobranchia
Megaorder Hygrophila
Order Lymnaeida
Superfamily Planorboidea
Family Planorbidae
Subfamily: Miratestinae
Original name: Physa (Ameria) cumingii H. Adams, 1861. In Adams, H. (1861). Descriptions of a new genus and some new species of the shells from the collection of Hugh Cuming, Esq. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1861: 143-145.
Type locality: Port Essington, Northern Territory.
Synonym: Physa (Ameria) bonushenricus Adams & Angas, 1864.
The species of Amerianna require taxonomic revision - the classification presented here is modified but is based on shells alone.
The synonymy of this species is based on the original description and examination of the holotype of A. cumingii which is figured here.
However, A. cumingii may well prove to be a form of Ameriana carinata.
On water weeds, wood, and similar substrates, in ponds and billabongs. Feeds on algae and detritus. Egg mass a jelly strip containing many small eggs. Development direct.
Timor Sea and Gulf of Carpentaria divisions, coastal Northern Territory.
Baker, F. C. (1945). The molluscan family Planorbidae. Urbana USA, University of Illinois Press.
Beesley, P. L., Ross, G. J. B. & Wells, A., Eds. (1998). Mollusca: The Southern Synthesis. Parts A & B. Melbourne, CSIRO Publishing.
Hogan, A. C., van Dam, R. A., Houston, M. A., Harford, A. J. & Nou, S. (2010). Uranium exposure to the tropical duckweed Lemna aequinoctialis and pulmonate snail Amerianna cumingi: fate and toxicity. Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology 59: 204-215.
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van Dam, R., Hogan, A., Houston, M., Nou, S. & Lee, N. (2007). Chronic toxicity of uranium to Lemna aequinoctialis and Amerianna cumingi. eris reseach summary - Ecotoxicology. Supervising Scientist Report 193. Darwin. 2005-2006:7-11.
Walker, J. C. (1988). Classification of Australian buliniform planorbids (Mollusca: Pulmonata). Records of the Australian Museum 40: 61-89.
Willan, E. C. & Kessner, V. (2021). A conspectus of the freshwater molluscs of the Daly River catchment, Northern Territory. Northern Territory Naturalist 30: 108-137.
