This species belongs to the Austropyrgus sparsus group, whose members are characterised by the following shell features: small to medium-sized shells, conical, with convex to slightly convex whorls. In females, the coiled oviduct is of an inverted U-shape or with two or more bends, loops or twists.
Austropyrgus gordonensis differs from other members of the group in the following combination of characters: shell small to medium in size, spire elongate to average in length; spire outline straight, anus near mantle edge; pallial vas deferens strongly undulating from prostate gland to penis; penis with pigmentation absent or on medial section only.
Austropyrgus gordonensis can be distinguished from the co-occurring A. salvus (in the upper Gordon and Franklin Rivers), by its larger, narrower shell.
Austropyrgus gordonensis Clark, Miller & Ponder, 2003
Class Gastropoda
Infraclass Caenogastropoda
Order Littorinida
Suborder Rissoidina
Superfamily Truncatelloidea
Family Tateidae
Genus Austropyrgus Cotton, 1942
Original name: Austropyrgus gordonensis Clark, Miller & Ponder, 2003. In Clark, S. A., Miller, A. C. & Ponder, W. F. (2003). Revision of the snail genus Austropyrgus (Gastropoda: Hydrobiidae): A morphostatic radiation of freshwater gastropods in southeastern Australia. Records of the Australian Museum Supplement 28: 1–109.
Type locality: Tributary of Gordon River, on western side, slightly upstream of Snag Point, Tasmania.
In streams and springs on water weeds, hard substrata (rocks etc.) and crawling on litter and sediment. Can be locally abundant. Assumed to feed by scraping bacteria and microalgae. Lay solitary capsules containing a single egg. Direct development.
This species is known from a number of small streams and rivers in southwestern Tasmania. Most of the known localities occur along the Gordon River and some of its tributaries below its junction with the Franklin River.
Although most species of Austropyrgus are geographically isolated and have restricted ranges, a few such as A. gordonensis have wider ranges.
Clark, S. A., Miller, A. C. & Ponder, W. F. (2003). Revision of the snail genus Austropyrgus (Gastropoda: Hydrobiidae): a morphostatic radiation of freshwater gastropods in southeastern Australia. Records of the Australian Museum 28: 1–109.
