The Australian freshwater limpets are in need of revision so the classification presented here is likely to be changed.
Small limpet-like snails, occasionally with a septation and detached cap- like structure at the shell apex as sometimes seen in Ferrissia petterdi. Apex radially striated.
Ferrissia Walker, 1903
Class Gastropoda
Infraclass Heterobranchia
Megaorder Hygrophila
Order Lymnaeida
Superfamily Planorboidea
Family Planorbidae
Subfamily: Ancylinae
Genus Ferrissia Walker, 1903
Type species: Ancylus rivularis Say, 1817
Original reference: Walker, B. (1903). Notes on eastern American Ancyli. The Nautilus 17(2/3): 13-19, 25-31
Synonyms: Pettancylus Iredale, 1943 Problancylus Iredale, 1943; Forcancylus Iredale, 1944
The Australian freshwater limpets have not been revised - it is highly likely that additional taxa will eventually be recognised.
On and under leaves, on wood and stones, in ponds, billabongs, streams and rivers. Sometimes in drains. Usually common. Feeds on detritus. Eggs are laid as single hemispherical capsules containing a single egg. Development direct.
Australasia, Africa, Middle East, India, Indonesia, Japan. Throughout Australia.
Ferrissia species differ from the similar Stimulator consetti from north-western Australia in having slightly larger and often broader shells that usually lack an internal shelf.
Hubendick (1967) used the genus Pettancylus for the Australian taxa but, as with the species, the generic relationships of the Australian taxa need revision. Albrecht et al. (2007) included one unnamed Australian species in their phylogeny of Planorbidae and it was separated from Ferrissia rivularis by a rather long branch. These latter authors treated Pettancylus as a subgenus of Ferrissia. We have previously used Pettancylus for these taxa but in this version of the key have adopted a more conservative approach.
Albrecht, C., Kuhn, K. & Streit, B. (2007). A molecular phylogeny of Planorboidea (Gastropoda, Pulmonata): insights from enhanced taxon sampling. Zoologica Scripta 36: 27-39.
Albrecht, C., Stelbrink, B. & Clewing, C. (2019). Planorbidae Rafinesque, 1815. Pp. 181-186 in C. Lydeard & Cummings, K. S. Freshwater Mollusks of the World: a Distribution Atlas. Baltimore, John Hopkins University Press.
Beesley, P. L., Ross, G. J. B. & Wells, A., Eds. (1998). Mollusca: The Southern Synthesis. Parts A & B. Melbourne, CSIRO Publishing.
Hubendick, B. (1960). A note on "Pettancylus" australicus (Tate). Journal of the Malacological Society of Australia 1: 32-38.
Hubendick, B. (1964). Studies on Ancylidae: the subgroups. Göteborgs Kungliga Vetenskaps och Vitterhets Samhälles Handligar Sjatte Foljden B 9: 1-72.
Hubendick, B. (1967). Studies on Ancylidae: the Australian, Pacific and Neotropical form groups. Acta Zoologica, Göteborg 1: 1-52.
Ponder, W. F., Clark, S. A. & Dallwitz, M. J. (2000). Freshwater and estuarine molluscs: an interactive, illustrated key for New South Wales. Melbourne, CSIRO Publishing.
Shea, M. (1995). Freshwater molluscs of Sydney. Australian Shell News 88: 4-6.
Smith, B. J. & Kershaw, R. C. (1979). Field guide to the non-marine Molluscs of South-eastern Australia. Canberra, A.N.U. Press.
Smith, B. J. & Kershaw, R. C. (1981). Tasmanian Land and Freshwater Molluscs. Hobart, University of Tasmania.
