This species belongs to the Austropyrgus cooma group, whose members are characterised by generally pupiform to conical, small to medium-sized shells, where the last whorl and base are evenly convex.
A. solitarius has a distinctive expanding-conical shell that, with its reflected outer lip and small size, makes it separable from other members of the genus.
Austropyrgus solitarius and A. nanus are the only two species of this genus known from Tasmanian thermal springs.
Austropyrgus solitarius Clark, Miller & Ponder, 2003
Class Gastropoda
Infraclass Caenogastropoda
Order Littorinida
Suborder Rissoidina
Superfamily Truncatelloidea
Family Tateidae
Genus Austropyrgus Cotton, 1942
Original name: Austropyrgus solitarius 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: Kimberley Warm Springs, Tasmania.
Occurs in a single thermal spring.
This species is currently known from a single thermal spring (25°C) from central northern Tasmania (Fig. 18) and is the only tateid present. This species and A. nanus are the only two species of the genus to be recorded from this habitat in Tasmania.
Most species of Austropyrgus are geographically isolated and have restricted ranges, and this one is no exception.
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.
