Galba truncatula (O.F. Müller, 1774)

Marković, Vanja, Gojšina, Vukašin, Novaković, Boris, Božanić, Milenka, Stojanović, Katarina, Karan-Žnidaršič, Tamara & Živić, Ivana, 2021, The freshwater molluscs of Serbia: Annotated checklist with remarks on distribution and protection status, Zootaxa 5003 (1), pp. 1-64 : 23

40. Galba truncatula (O.F. Müller, 1774)

Findings in Serbia.

Lymnaea truncatula : Hesse (1929); Jaeckel et al. (1958); Tomić (1959); Simić (1996); Karaman & Živić (2001).

Lymnaea (Galba) truncatula : Karaman (2001).

Galba truncatula: Frank et al. (1990) ; Karaman & Karaman (2007); Gojšina (2021 pers. comm.).

Common name. Dwarf mud snail, dwarf pond snail.

Morphology. Small-sized snail (conical shell up to 9 mm long/high). Shell is striated, with 5–6 step-like whorls. Aperture is oval, umbilicus is open and deep. For more details see Welter-Schultes (2012: 49, figure at the bottom of the page).

Distribution and ecology. Holarctic species. Amphibious semi-terrestrial snail preferring small water bodies (meadows, ponds, marshes, brooks) and temporal habitats ( Trouve et al 2005; Welter-Schultes 2012; Dreyfuss et al. 2015). Fairly scarce findings in Serbia include the Danube River, and few smaller watercourses (Vlasina, Moravica and Veternica Rivers, Kudoški canal) and Obedska bara Wetland.

Other remarks. Shell morphology can be very variable, particularly in regard to spire height. It could be misidentified as degenerated forms of Stagnicola palustris (O.F. Müller, 1774) ( Glöer 2019) . In Europe, it is known as an intermediate host for trematodes (Fascicola hepatica and others) thus serving as a disease vector (details in Dreyfuss et al 2015). In some habitats with low population densities, or even individual presence of snails, selffertilization is common ( Trouve et al. 2005). On the IUCN Red List it has been assessed as LC ( Van Damme & Kebapçý 2011 a).

Genus Stagnicola Jeffreys, 1830