This species belongs to the Austropyrgus petterdianus group, whose members are characterised by the following shell features: aperture slightly disjunct, with last whorl and base evenly convex; outer lip without reflection; shell colour yellow-brown and translucent.
A. lochi differs from other members of the group in the following combination of characters: shell small, with elongated spire, straight spire outline and flattened to slightly convex whorls; anterior end of ctenidium abutting pericardium; pallial vas deferens strongly undulating at prostate gland.
This species can be found in sympatry with six other species of Austropyrgus (A. juliae, A. ronkershawi, A. procerus, A. mersus, A. conicus and A. rectoides) throughout its currently recognised range, with up to three in any one location. Its shell can be distinguished by its tall, narrow spire and straight outline. It is often found with A. juliae, but differs in its slightly broader, more conical shell with more flattened whorls.
Austropyrgus lochi Clark, Miller & Ponder, 2003
Class Gastropoda
Infraclass Caenogastropoda
Order Littorinida
Suborder Rissoidina
Superfamily Truncatelloidea
Family Tateidae
Genus Austropyrgus Cotton, 1942
Original name: Austropyrgus lochi 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: Small tributary of Little Claytons Rivulet, off Thompson Road, south of Ulverstone, Tasmania.
In streams 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 found in small streams across the mid-western part of the north coast to the mid-north coast of Tasmania.
Although most species of Austropyrgus are geographically isolated and have restricted ranges, a few - such as A. lochi - 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.
