Valvata cristata

Valvata cristata is a species of small freshwater snail with an operculum, an aquatic gastropod mollusk or micromollusk in the family Valvatidae, the valve snails.

Distribution

Czech Republic - Bohemia and Moravia
Slovakia
Poland
Germany -
Netherlands
the British Isles: Great Britain and Ireland
Hungary
Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia
and other areas

Image:Naturalis Biodiversity Center - ZMA.MOLL.318572 - Valvata cristata Müller, 1774 - Valvatidae - Mollusc shell.jpeg|thumb|230px|left|Specimens of V.cristata in Naturalis Biodiversity Center. Note the tiny size

Shell description

The shell of this exceeding small Valvata species is very flat in its coiling, and therefore it somewhat resembles a Planorbis shell. However, the shell is dextral in coiling and has an operculum. The shell is transparent, has 3-3.5 whorls in a circular aperture. The umbilicus is wide and open, more than 1/3 of shell diameter.

Ecology

This species lives in stagnant and slow-moving water.
Myzyk described life cycle of Valvata cristata.