Melanopsidae, common name melanopsids, is a family

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

 of freshwater gastropods in the clade Sorbeoconcha

Sorbeoconcha

Sorbeoconcha is a taxonomic clade of snails, i.e. gastropods, mainly marine species with gills and opercula, within the clade Caenogastropoda.The taxon Sorbeoconcha was named by Winston Ponder and David R. Lindberg in 1997.-1997 taxonomy:...

. Species in this family are native to southern and eastern Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

, northern Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

, parts of the Middle East

Middle East

The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...

, New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

, and freshwater streams of some large South Pacific

Oceania

Oceania is a region centered on the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean. Conceptions of what constitutes Oceania range from the coral atolls and volcanic islands of the South Pacific to the entire insular region between Asia and the Americas, including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago...

 islands.

These snails first appeared in the Late Cretaceous

Late Cretaceous

The Late Cretaceous is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous period is divided in the geologic timescale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous series...

 and are closely related to Potamididae

Potamididae

Potamididae, common name potamidids , are a family of small to large brackish water snails living in mangroves, gastropod molluscs of the clade Sorbeoconcha. Traditionally, potamidids and batillariids have been confused with each other for having similar shells and living in a similar environment...

. As well as unidirectional evolutionary change from one species to the next over time, the process of hybridization plays a major role in the appearance of new Melanopsidae species.

According to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi (2005)

Taxonomy of the Gastropoda (Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005)

The taxonomy of the Gastropoda as it was revised by Philippe Bouchet and Jean-Pierre Rocroi is currently the most up-to-date overall system for classifying gastropod mollusks...

 the family Melanopsidae has no subfamilies.

Genera

Genera in the family Melanopsidae include:

• Amphimelania P. Fischer, 1885
• Esperiana
  Esperiana
  Esperiana is a genus of freshwater snails with an operculum, aquatic gastropod mollusks in the family Melanopsidae.-Species:Species within the genus Esperiana include:* Esperiana daudebartii* Esperiana esperi...
  
  Bourguignat, 1877
• Fagotia
  Fagotia
  Fagotia is a genus of freshwater snails with an operculum, aquatic gastropod mollusks in the family Melanopsidae.-Species:Species within the genus Fagotia include:* Fagotia daudebartii * Fagotia esperi...
  
  Bourguignat, 1884
• Holandriana Bourguignat, 1884
  • Holandriana holandrii (C. Pfeiffer, 1828) or Amphimelania holandrii (C. Pfeiffer, 1828)
• Melanopsis
  Melanopsis
  Melanopsis is a genus of freshwater snails with a gill and an operculum, aquatic gastropod mollusks in the family Melanopsidae. The genus first appeared in the Cretaceous.Melanopsis is the type genus of the family Melanopsidae.-Distribution:...
  
  Férussac, 1807 - type genus of the family Melanopsidae
• † Pseudobellardia Cox, 1931
• † Stomatopsis Stache, 1871
• † Stylospirula Rovereto, 1899
• Zemelanopsis Finlay, 1927
  • Zemelanopsis trifasciata (Gray, 1843)