Potamididae, common name potamidids (also known as horn snails or mudwhelks) are a family of small to large brackish water snails that live on mud flats, mangroves and similar habitats. They are amphibious gastropod molluscs in the superfamily Cerithioidea.
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 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 eastern Pacific and the Atlantic Ocean.
Genera Six living and a number of fossil genera are currently recognized:
Recent genera: Cerithidea Swainson, 1840 Cerithideopsis 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 Thiele, 1929 - synonym: Pirenella Gray, 1847 (or of Potamides) Telescopium Montfort, 1810 Terebralia Swainson, 1840 possible subgenus or synonym: † Gravesicerithium Charpiat, 1923 subgenus or synonym: † Cerithideops Pilsbry & Harbison, 1933 Tympanotonos Schumacher, 1817
Fossil genera (fossils are difficult to differentiate from other cerithioideans, such as the Batillariidae): † Bittiscala Finlay & Marwick, 1937Potamididae. The Paleobiology Database, Retrieved 10 April 2011. † Campanilopsis Chavan, 1949 † Canaliscala Cossmann, 1888 † Echinobathra Cossmann, 1906 † Exechestoma Cossmann, 1899 † Gantechinobathra Kowalke, 2001 † Hadraxon Oppenheim, 1892 † Potamides 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 Cerithidea Swainson, 1840 Phaenommia Mörch, 1860: synonym of Cerithidea Swainson, 1840 Pirenella Gray, 1847 is a synonym of Potamides Brongniart, 1810 or of Cerithideopsilla Tympanotomus Gray, 1840: synonym of Tympanotonos Schumacher, 1817 Tympanotonus Agassiz, 1846: synonym of Tympanotonos 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.
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