Viviparidae

Viviparidae, sometimes known as the river snails or mystery snails, are a family of large aquatic gastropod mollusks, being some of the most widely distributed operculate freshwater snails.

This family is classified in the informal group Architaenioglossa according to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005.

Distribution
This family occurs nearly worldwide in temperate and tropical regions, with the exception that they are absent from South America.

There are two genera of Viviparidae in Africa: Bellamya and Neothauma.

The oldest known vivparid is Viviparus langtonensis from the Middle Jurassic of England. The oldest records from the Southern Hemisphere is from the Late Jurassic Talbragar fossil beds of Australia.

Taxonomy
The family Viviparidae contains 3 subfamilies (according to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005):
 * Viviparinae Gray, 1847 (1833) - synonyms: Paludinidae Fitzinger, 1833 (inv.); Kosoviinae Atanackovic, 1859 (n.a.)
 * Bellamyinae Rohrbach, 1937 - synonym: Amuropaludinidae Starobogatov, Prozorova, Bogatov & Sayenko, 2004 (n.a.)
 * Lioplacinae Gill, 1863 - synonym: Campelomatinae Thiele, 1929

Genera
Genera within the family Viviparidae include:

subfamily Viviparinae Gray, 1847
 * Galizgia Mikhaylovskiy, 1903
 * † Kosovia Atanacković, 1959
 * Rivularia Heude, 1890
 * Trochopaludina Starobogatov, 1985
 * Tulotoma Haldeman, 1840
 * Viviparus Montfort, 1810 - type genus

subfamily Bellamyinae Rohrbach, 1937
 * Amuropaludina Moskvicheva, 1979
 * Angulyagra Rao, 1931
 * Anulotaia Brandt, 1968
 * Anularya Zhang & Chen, 2015
 * † Apameaus Sivan, Heller & van Damme, 2006 This Pliocene-Pleistocene genus contains only one species Apameaus apameae Sivan, Heller & van Damme, 2006
 * Bellamya Jousseame, 1886 - type genus of the subfamily
 * Boganmargarya Thach, 2018
 * Cipangopaludina H annibal, 1912
 * Eyriesia P. Fischer, 1885
 * Filopaludina Habe, 1964
 * Heterogen Annandale, 1921 - with the only species Heterogen longispira (E. A. Smith, 1886)
 * Idiopoma Pilsbry, 1901
 * Larina Adams, 1851
 * Margarya Nevill, 1877
 * Mekongia Crosse & Fischer, 1876
 * Neclarina Iredale, 1943
 * Notopala Cotton, 1935
 * Sinotaia Haas, 1939
 * Taia Annandale, 1918
 * † Temnotaia Annandale, 1919
 * Tchangmargarya He, 2013
 * Torotaia Haas, 1939
 * Trochotaia Brandt, 1974

subfamily Lioplacinae Gill, 1863
 * Campeloma Rafinesque, 1819
 * Lioplax Troschel, 1856

subfamily ?
 * † Albianopalin Hamilton-Bruce, Smith & Gowlett-Holmes, 2002 - from Albian, New South Wales
 * Neothauma E. A. Smith, 1880
 * Siamopaludina Brandt, 1968


 * Genera brought into synonymy:
 * Centrapala Cotton, 1935: synonym of Larina A. Adams, 1855
 * Contectiana Bourguignat, 1880: synonym of Viviparus Montfort, 1810
 * Eularina Iredale, 1943: synonym of Larina A. Adams, 1855
 * subfamily † Kosoviinae Atanacković, 1959: synonym of Viviparidae Gray, 1847
 * Lecythoconcha Annandale, 1920: synonym of Cipangopaludina Hannibal, 1912
 * Metohia Popović, 1964 : (junior homonym, no replacement name available in 2014)
 * Notopalena Iredale, 1943: synonym of Notopala Cotton, 1935
 * Paludina Férussac, 1812: synonym of Viviparus Montfort, 1810
 * Siamopaludina Brandt, 1968 : synonym of Filopaludina (Siamopaludina) Brandt, 1968 represented as Filopaludina Habe, 1964
 * Vivipara : synonym of Viviparus Montfort, 1810

Life cycle
Life spans have been reported from 3 to 11 years in various species of Viviparidae.