Valvatidae | |
---|---|
a live Valvata piscinalis | |
Drawing of apertural and umbilical views of a shell of Valvata cristata. | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Mollusca |
Class: | Gastropoda |
(unranked): |
clade Heterobranchia informal group Lower Heterobranchia |
Superfamily: | Valvatoidea |
Family: |
Valvatidae J. E. Gray, 1840 |
Diversity | |
71 freshwater species | |
Synonyms | |
Borystheniinae Starobogatov, 1983 |
informal group Lower Heterobranchia
Borystheniinae Starobogatov, 1983
Valvatidae, the valve snails, is a taxonomic family of very small freshwater snails with an operculum, aquatic gastropod mollusks.
The family Valvatidae has no subfamilies (according to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005).
The type genus of this family is Valvata O.F. Müller, 1774.
Genera in the family Valvatidae include:
Snails in the family Valvatidae are useful for measuring water quality as biological indicators. According to the Biological monitoring working party they have a score of 3, which means that they have quite a high tolerance to pollutants.
Haszprunar G (2014) A nomenclator of extant and fossil taxa of the Valvatidae (Gastropoda, Ectobranchia). ZooKeys 377: 1-172. http://www.pensoft.net/J_FILES/1/articles/6032/6032-G-3-layout.pdf