Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 5, 2026

Ancylus

Ancylus is a genus of very small, freshwater, air-breathing limpets. They are aquatic pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the tribe Ancylini within the family Planorbidae, the ram's horn snails and their allies.

Last revised
Jul 5, 2026
Read time
≈ 3 min
Length
665 w
Citations
18
Source
Wikipedia ↗
Ancylus
Temporal range:
Ancylus fluviatilis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Superorder: Hygrophila
Family: Planorbidae
Subfamily: Ancylinae
Tribe: Ancylini
Genus: Ancylus
O. F. Müller, 17731
Species

See text

Synonyms
  • Ancilus O.F. Müller, 1773 (a misspelling of the generic name Ancylus)
  • Pseudancylus Walker, 1921 (junior objective synonym of Ancylus)
  • Velletia (Ancylus) O. F. Müller, 1773 (new combination)

Ancylus is a genus of very small, freshwater, air-breathing limpets. They are aquatic pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the tribe Ancylini within the family Planorbidae, the ram's horn snails and their allies.2

The genus is known throughout the Cenozoic.3

Species

Species in the genus Ancylus include:

  • Ancylus aduncus A. A. Gould, 18474
  • † Ancylus alutae Jekelius, 1932
  • Ancylus ashangiensis Brown, 19655
  • Ancylus benoitianus Bourguignat, 1862
  • † Ancylus bourgeoisi Deshayes, 1863
  • † Ancylus boyeri Noulet, 1867
  • † Ancylus braunii Dunker, 1853
  • Ancylus capuloides Jan in Porro, 1838
  • † Ancylus cestasensis Peyrot, 1932
  • † Ancylus depressus Deshayes, 1824
  • † Ancylus dumasi Fontannes, 1884
  • † Ancylus elegans J. de C. Sowerby, 1826
  • Ancylus expansilabris Clessin, 1881
  • Ancylus fluviatilis Müller, 17746 - the type species4
  • † Ancylus hungaricus Brusina, 1902
  • Ancylus lapicidus Hubendick, 196064
  • † Ancylus lyelli Maillard, 1892
  • † Ancylus moravicus Rzehak, 1893
  • † Ancylus ninghaiensis Youluo, 1978
  • † Ancylus parmophorus de Stefani, 1880
  • Ancylus pileolus6
  • Ancylus recurvus Martens, 1873
  • Ancylus regularis Brown, 19737
  • Ancylus rupicola Boubée, 18326
  • † Ancylus saucatsensis Peyrot, 1932 (?)
  • Ancylus scalariformis Stankovic & Radoman, 195364
  • † Ancylus serbicus Brusina, 1893
  • Ancylus striatus Quoy & Gaimard, 18344
  • Ancylus subcircularis Clessin, 1880
  • † Ancylus subcostatus Benoist, 1873
  • Ancylus tapirulus Polinski, 192964
Synonyms
  • † Ancylus croaticus Brusina, 1902: synonym of † Acroloxus croaticus (Brusina, 1902)
  • † Ancylus decussatus Reuss in Reuss & Meyer, 1849: synonym of †Acroloxus decussatus (Reuss in Reuss & Meyer, 1849)
  • † Ancylus deperditolacustris Gottschick, 1911: synonym of † Acroloxus deperditolacustris (Gottschick, 1911)
  • † Ancylus deperditus (Desmarest, 1814): synonym of † Ferrissia deperdita (Desmarest, 1814)
  • Ancylus drouetianus Bourguignat, 1862: synonym of Williamia gussoni (Costa O. G., 1829)
  • Ancylus fuscus C. B. Adams, 1840: synonym of Laevapex fuscus (C. B. Adams, 1840)
  • Ancylus gibbosus Bourguignat, 1862: synonym of Williamia gussoni (Costa O. G., 1829)
  • Ancylus gussonii O. G. Costa, 1829: synonym of Williamia gussonii (O. G. Costa, 1829)
  • † Ancylus illyricus Neumayr, 1880: synonym of †Ferrissia illyrica (Neumayr, 1880)
  • † Ancylus involutus Pavlović, 1903: synonym of † Acroloxus involutus (Pavlović, 1903)
  • † Ancylus michaudi Locard, 1878: synonym of † Acroloxus michaudi (Locard, 1878)
  • † Ancylus neumayri Fontannes, 1881: synonym of †Ferrissia neumayri (Fontannes, 1881)
  • Ancylus patelloides I. Lea, 1856: synonym of Lanx patelloides (I. Lea, 1856)
  • † Ancylus pontileviensis Morgan, 1920: synonym of † Ferrissia pontileviensis (Morgan, 1920)
  • † Ancylus wittmanni Schlickum, 1964: synonym of † Ferrissia wittmanni (Schlickum, 1964)

Cladogram

A cladogram based on sequences of mitochondrial 16S ribosomal RNA and cytochrome-c oxidase I (COI) genes showing phylogenic relations of Ancylus by Albrecht et al. (2006):6

Ancylus

Ancylus sp. C

Ancylus sp. D

Ancylus tapirulus

Ancylus lapicidus

Ancylus scalariformis

Ancylus sp. B

Ancylus sp. A

Ancylus fluviatilis

References

References

  1. Müller O. F. (1773). Vermivm terrestrium et fluviatilium, seu animalium infusoriorum, helminthicorum, et testaceorum, non marinorum, succincta historia. Volumen alterum. - pp. I-XXVI [= 1-36], 1-214, [1-10]. Havniae & Lipsiae. (Heineck & Faber). (1774)
  2. Bouchet, P.; Rosenberg, G. (2014). Ancylus O. F. Müller, 1773. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=559196 on 2014-11-15
  3. (in Czech) Pek I., Vašíček Z., Roček Z., Hajn V. & Mikuláš R. (1996): Základy zoopaleontologie. Olomouc, 264 pp., ISBN 80-7067-599-3.
  4. "Species in genus Ancylus (n=6)". AnimalBase, accessed 7 July 2012.
  5. Van Damme, D. (2010). "Ancylus ashangiensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2010 e.T1262A3366218. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-3.RLTS.T1262A3366218.en. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
  6. Albrecht C., Trajanovski S., Kuhn K., Streit B. & Wilke T. (2006). "Rapid evolution of an ancient lake species flock: Freshwater limpets (Gastropoda: Ancylidae) in the Balkan Lake Ohrid". Organisms Diversity & Evolution 6(4): 294-307. doi:10.1016/j.ode.2005.12.003.
  7. Van Damme, D. (2010). "Ancylus regularis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2010 e.T1263A3367167. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-3.RLTS.T1263A3367167.en. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
Further reading

Further reading