Beddomeia phasianella Ponder & Clark, 1993

Diagnostic features

This distinctive species differs from all the other species of Beddomeia in having a small, elongate conic, almost pupiform shell with a weak columella fold and has a simple penis. In shell characters, this species is most similar to B. capensis, but differs from that taxon in its narrower, smaller shell, sculptured protoconch, thicker inner lip with a weak columellar swelling.

Classification

Beddomeia phasianella Ponder & Clark, 1993

Class Gastropoda

Infraclass Caenogastropoda

Order Littorinida

Suborder Rissoidina

Superfamily Beddomeiidae

Family Tateidae

Genus Beddomeia Petterd, 1889

Original name: Beddomeia phasianella Ponder & Clark, 1993. In Ponder, W.F., Clark, G.A., Miller, A. & Toluzzi, A. (1993). On a major radiation of freshwater snails in Tasmania and eastern Victoria - a preliminary overview of the Beddomeia group (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Hydrobiidae). Invertebrate Taxonomy, 7: 501-750.

Type locality: Keddies Creek on Dial Road, S of Penguin, Tasmania (41°10'13"S 146°03'21"E).

Biology and ecology

On leaf litter and moss and under wood and rocks in streams.Egg capsules on rocks embedded in gravel and typical of Beddomeia - dome-shaped, with broad attachment base, covered with minute, mainly white sand grains and other fragments and containing a single egg. Development direct.

Distribution

Keddies Creek and nearby small streams on Dial Road, south of Penguin, Tasmania. The three localities from which this species has been collected are all small streams.

Notes

All species of Beddomeia are geographically isolated and have restricted ranges.

This species is on the Tasmanian Threatened Species Protection Act 1995 as Vulnerable.

Further reading

Ponder, W. F., Clark, G. A., Miller, A. C. & Toluzzi, A. (1993). On a major radiation of freshwater snails in Tasmania and eastern Victoria: a preliminary overview of the Beddomeia group (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Hydrobiidae). Invertebrate Taxonomy 7: 501-750.