Beddomeia launcestonensis
Species of gastropod / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Beddomeia launcestonensis is a species of very small freshwater snail that has a gill and an operculum, an aquatic operculate gastropod mollusk in the family Hydrobiidae. This species is endemic to Australia.[1]
Beddomeia launcestonensis | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Mollusca |
Class: | Gastropoda |
Subclass: | Caenogastropoda |
Order: | Littorinimorpha |
Family: | Tateidae |
Genus: | Beddomeia |
Species: | B. launcestonensis |
Binomial name | |
Beddomeia launcestonensis (Johnston, 1879) | |
The Beddomeia launcestonensis is a freshwater snail of the Beddomeia genus, the most diverse of all freshwater families of freshwater molluscs, and Hydrobiidae family. There are approximately 67 species within this hydrobiid and four distinct genera within this Beddomeia complex. Three species in the genera (Nanocochlea; three taxa, Phrantela; thirteen taxa, and Beddomeia; forty-seven taxa) are found in Tasmania, whereas the fourth genus (Victodrobia; four taxa) is endemic to Victoria. Only three of these taxa have been given subspecific status, whereas fifty-nine of the species-group taxa are newly described. These species-group taxa are segregated through the use of morphological data based on 78 characters from the radula, shell, genital and non-genital anatomy. Nearly the entirety of this taxa have very specific and small geographic ranges with 38 being known only from single locations.
Freshwater snails are gastropod molluscs which live in brackish water or fresh water. According to a 2008 review of the taxonomy, there are about 4,000 species of freshwater gastropods, inclusive of the Beddomeia launcestonensis. The Beddomeia launcestonensis is small in size with a shell ranging from 2 to 4.2 mm in length. They make up part of approximately 47 species of the Tasmanian snail Beddomeia genus, residing mainly in the mid-north and north-eastern parts of Tasmania.
They were first identified by R. M Johnston and originally named Amnicola launcestonensis in 1879. Now known as Beddomeia launcestonensis, this species is currently found on the Tasmanian Threatened species of Invertebrate Animals as Endangered and are classified as endangered on the Threatened Species Protection Act 1995. They are endemic in Tasmania and restricted in abundance and distribution.