A large limpet-like planorbid with a radially (i.e., spirally) ribbed shell.
Ancylastrum irvinae (Petterd, 1888)
Class Gastropoda
Infraclass Heterobranchia
Megaorder Hygrophila
Order Lymnaeida
Superfamily Planorboidea
Family Planorbidae
Subfamily: Miratestinae
Genus Ancylastrum Bourguignat, 1853
Original name: Ancylus irvinae Petterd, 1888. In Petterd, W. F. (1888). Descriptions of two new species of Tasmanian fresh-water shells. Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania 1887: 40-41.
Type locality: Great Lake, Tasmania.
Although two species are recognised, there is some doubt if they are valid as both occur sympatrically in Great Lake (Richards et al. 2018).
Lives on stones in lakes of the Central Plateau of Tasmania. Recently found attached to stones in shallow water at a time when the lake reached a record low (K. Richards pers. comm.).
Tasmania - lakes of the Central Plateau, notably Great Lake.
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.
Hubendick, B. (1955). Phylogeny of the Planorbidae. Transactions of the Zoological Society of London 28: 453-542.
Hubendick, B. (1964). Studies on Ancylidae: the subgroups. Göteborgs Kungliga Vetenskaps och Vitterhets Samhälles Handligar Sjatte Foljden B 9: 1-72.
Richards, K., Spencer, C. P., Barmuta, L. & Allen, J. (2015). Insights into the diet of trout in Tasmania’s central highlands lakes—an angler’s contribution to science. The Tasmanian Naturalist 137: 60-69.
Richards, K., Spencer, C. P. & Macfarlane, K. (2018). A biological investigation of the Great Lake Giant Freshwater Limpet, Ancylastrum cumingianus (Bourguignat 1853) and its larger cousin A. irvinae (Petterd 1888). The Tasmanian Naturalist 140: 161-173.
Smith, B. J. & Kershaw, R. C. (1981). Tasmanian Land and Freshwater Molluscs. Hobart, University of Tasmania.
Walker, J. C. (1988). Classification of Australian buliniform planorbids (Mollusca: Pulmonata). Records of the Australian Museum 40: 61-89.
