''Potamididae'',

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often con ...

potamidids (also known as horn snails or mudwhelks) are a

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

of small to large

brackish water Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estuary ...

snails that live on

mud flat Mudflats or mud flats, also known as tidal flats or, in Ireland, slob or slobs, are coastal wetlands that form in intertidal areas where sediments have been deposited by tides or rivers. A global analysis published in 2019 suggested that tidal f ...

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows mainly in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. Mangroves grow in an equatorial climate, typically along coastlines and tidal rivers. They have particular adaptations to take in extra oxygen a ...

s and similar habitats. They are amphibious

gastropod Gastropods (), commonly known as slugs and snails, belong to a large Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, freshwater, and fro ...

mollusc Mollusca is a phylum of protostome, protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant taxon, extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum ...

s in the superfamily

Cerithioidea The Cerithioidea is a Taxonomic rank, superfamily of marine, brackish water and freshwater Gastropoda, gastropod containing more than 200 genera. The Cerithioidea are included unassigned in the subclass Caenogastropoda. The original name of this ...

. Traditionally, potamidids and batillariids have been confused because they have similar shells and they live in similar environments. For many fossil taxa the family assignment to either of these two

families Family (from ) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictability, structure, and safety as ...

is still unresolved or controversial. According to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi (2005) the family Potamididae has no subfamilies.

Distribution

The distribution of Potamididae includes the

Indo-West Pacific The Indo-Pacific is a vast biogeographic region of Earth. In a narrow sense, sometimes known as the Indo-West Pacific or Indo-Pacific Asia, it comprises the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the s ...

, the eastern

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

and the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

Genera

Six living and a number of fossil genera are currently recognized: Recent genera: * ''

Cerithidea ''Cerithidea'' is a genus of medium-sized sea snails or mud snails, marine (ocean), marine gastropod mollusks in the family (biology), family Potamididae, the horn snails. MolluscaBase eds. (2020). MolluscaBase. Cerithidea Swainson, 1840. Accesse ...

'' Swainson, 1840 * ''

Cerithideopsis ''Cerithideopsis'' is a genus of medium-sized sea snails or mud snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Potamididae, the horn snails. MolluscaBase eds. (2020). MolluscaBase. Cerithideopsis Thiele, 1929. Accessed through: World Register o ...

'' Thiele, 1929 ** possible subgenus or synonym: † '' Harrisianella'' Olson, 1929 - Reid et al. (2008) classify ''Harrisianella'' as a possible subgenus or synonym of ''Cerithideopsis'' ** possible subgenus or synonym: † '' Lagunitis'' Olsson, 1929 - Reid et al. (2008) classify ''Lagunitis'' as a possible subgenus or synonym of ''Cerithideopsis'' * ''

Cerithideopsilla ''Pirenella'' is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Potamididae ''Potamididae'', common name potamidids (also known as horn snails or mudwhelks) are a family (biology), family of small to large brackish water snai ...

'' Thiele, 1929 - synonym: ''Pirenella'' Gray, 1847 (or of ''Potamides'') * ''

Telescopium Telescopium is a minor constellation in the southern Celestial sphere, celestial hemisphere, one of twelve named in the 18th century by French astronomer Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille and one of several depicting scientific instruments. Its name i ...

'' Montfort, 1810 * ''

Terebralia ''Terebralia'' is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Potamididae. Species Species within the genus ''Terebralia'' include: * ''Terebralia palustris ''Terebralia palustris'', common name, commonly known as the g ...

'' Swainson, 1840 ** possible subgenus or synonym: † '' Gravesicerithium'' Charpiat, 1923 ** subgenus or synonym: † '' Cerithideops'' Pilsbry & Harbison, 1933 * ''

Tympanotonos ''Tympanotonos'' is a genus of snail living in brackish water, a gastropod mollusk in the family Potamididae. Extant and extinct species Species within this genus include: * † '' Tympanotonus calcaratus'' (Grateloup, 1840) * † '' Tympanot ...

'' Schumacher, 1817 Fossil genera (fossils are difficult to differentiate from other

cerithioidea The Cerithioidea is a Taxonomic rank, superfamily of marine, brackish water and freshwater Gastropoda, gastropod containing more than 200 genera. The Cerithioidea are included unassigned in the subclass Caenogastropoda. The original name of this ...

ns, such as the

Batillariidae Batillariidae, common name batillariids or mudcreepers, are a family (biology), family of marine (ocean), marine, cerithioidean gastropod molluscs in thesuperfamily Cerithioidea. They consist of 14 living species, classified in six to eight gene ...

): * † '' Bittiscala'' Finlay & Marwick, 1937Potamididae

The Paleobiology Database The Paleobiology Database (PBDB) is an online resource for information on the distribution and classification of fossil animals, plants, and microorganisms. History The Paleobiology Database originated in the NCEAS-funded Phanerozoic Marine Pale ...

, Retrieved 10 April 2011. * † '' Campanilopsis'' Chavan, 1949 * † '' Canaliscala'' Cossmann, 1888 * † '' Echinobathra'' Cossmann, 1906 * † '' Exechestoma'' Cossmann, 1899 * † '' Gantechinobathra'' Kowalke, 2001 * † '' Hadraxon'' Oppenheim, 1892 * † ''

Potamides In Greek mythology, ''potameides'' () is a name for nymphs of rivers. It is used by Apollonius of Rhodes, who writes that, when Jason summoned the goddess Hecate: A scholium on the ''Iliad'' (from the A family of scholia) states that () is the ...

'' Brongniart, 1810 - type genus, its type species is extinct and the whole genus is extinct, synonym: ''Pirenella'' Gray, 1847WoRMS (2010). ''Potamides'' Brongniart, 1810. In: Bouchet, P.; Gofas, S.; Rosenberg, G. (2010) World Marine Mollusca database. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=138374 on 2011-04-10 ** subgenus or synonym: † '' Ptychopotamides'' Saccho, 1895 ** subgenus or synonym: † '' Mesohalina'' Wittibschlager, 1983 ** subgenus or synonym: † ' d'Archiac & Haimes, 1854 ** subgenus or synonym: † ' Yabe & Hatai, 1938 ** possible subgenus or synonym: † '' Eotympanotonus'' Chavan, 1952 * † '' Potamidopsis'' Munier-Chalmas, 1900 * † '' Terebraliopsis'' Cossmann, 1906 ;Generic names brought into synonymy: * ''Aphanistylus'' P. Fischer, 1884: synonym of ''

'' Swainson, 1840 * ''Phaenommia'' Mörch, 1860: synonym of ''

'' Swainson, 1840 * ''Pirenella'' Gray, 1847 is a synonym of ''

'' Brongniart, 1810 or of ''Cerithideopsilla'' * ''Tympanotomus'' Gray, 1840: synonym of ''

'' Schumacher, 1817 * ''Tympanotonus'' Agassiz, 1846: synonym of ''

'' Schumacher, 1817

Ecology

Most of the 29 living species of Potamididae show a close association with mangroves. Most species live on mudflats, but some also climb mangrove trees.

References

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q2106366 Gastropod families Taxa named by Arthur Adams (zoologist) Taxa named by Henry Adams (zoologist)