104 
THE FRESHWATER MOLLUSCA OF VICTORIA 
Family HYDROBIIDAE. 
Genus BYTHINELLA Moquin-Tandon, 1851. 
Bythinella nigra (Quoy and Gaimard). 
(PI. I, Figs. 3, 3a.) 
1835 Paludina nigra Q. and G., Zool. Astrolabe, iii, p. 174, pi. 58, figs. 9-12. 
1871 Paludestrina legrandiana Brazier, P. Z. S. Lond., p. 678. 
1871 P. wisemaniana Brazier, op. cit., p. 679. 
1875 Bithinia petterdiana Brazier, Pr. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., i, p. 19. 
1876 B. legrandi Tenison Woods, Pr. Roy. Soc. Tas., p. 76. 
1876 B. unicarinata Ten. Woods, op. cit., p. 77. 
1876 B. tasmanica Ten. Woods, op. cit., p. 77. 
1879 Bythinella exigua Ten. Woods, op. cit., p. 71, n.n. for legrandi 
Ten. Woods. 
1882 Bithyinella nigra Q. and G. Tate and Brazier, Pr. Linn. Soc. 
N.S.W., vi, p. 564. 
1889 Potaniopyrgus nigra Q. and G. Petterd, Pr. Roy. Soc. Tas., p. 69, 
pi. 3, figs. 2-8. 
1893 P. niger Q. and G. Tate, Tr. Roy. Soc. S. Aust., xvii, p. 200. 
1920 Bithinia legrandiana Brazier. May, Pr. Roy. Soc. Tas., p. 72, 
pi. 11, fig. 23. 
1920 B. legrandi Ten. Woods. May, op. cit., p. 72, pi. 11, fig. 24. 
1920 B. unicarinata Ten. Woods. May, op. cit., p. 72, pi. 11, fig. 25. 
1920 B. tasmanica Ten. Woods. May, op. cit., p. 72, pi. 11, fig. 26. 
1920 B. exigua Ten. Woods. May, op. cit., p. 72. 
1921 Potamopyrgus nigra Q. and G. May, Check-List Moll. Tas., p. 56, 
No. 501. 
1923 Id., May, 111. Index Tas. Shells, pi. 26, fig. 3. 
Size. — Length, 4 5 mm.; breadth, 2 25 mm. 
Localities. — Mordialloc (Nat. Mus., Melb.) ; Echuca (J. A. 
Kershaw) ; Dromana (T. Worcester) ; Tanti Creek, Morning- 
ton (Rev. G. Cox) ; Koroit (W. Paterson) ; Hall’s Gap (C. 
Oke) ; Ballarat (J. H. Young); Lake Connewarre (F. S. 
Colliver) ; Reservoir, Studley Park (C. J. Gabriel). 
Vernacular Name. — The Black Bythinella. 
Observations. — This is the largest species of the genus in 
Victoria; it is plentiful and widely distributed throughout 
the State. The type locality is small freshwater creeks, 
D’Entrecasteaux Channel, Tasmania. Quoy and Gaimard ’s 
original description is as follows: “Paludina, testa minima, 
ovato-turrita, nigra; anfractibus quarternis obliqids, con- 
vexis; spira obtiisa; apertura subcirculari, prominente ” — ^the 
authors noting operculmn membi’anous with concentric lines. 
That this has proved a much misunderstood species is 
evidenced in the large and confusing synonymy. As Petterd 
remarks: “In size, with the relative length of spire and 
aperture, it varies almost indefinitely, so much so that almost 
