<i>PHYSELLA ACUTA </i>(DRAPARNAUD, 1805) (MOLLUSCA: GASTROPODA: PHYSIDAE) IN THE ĐANHIM RIVER BASIN (LÂM ĐỒNG PROVINCE, VIETNAM): GENETIC AND MORPHOLOGICAL IDENTIFICATION

Abstract

Invasive freshwater molluscs of the genus Physella (Gastropoda: Physidae) were discovered in the basin of the Dong Nai River, Vietnam for the first time. Based on the analysis of morphological features and the nucleotide sequence of the fragment of the COI mitochondrial gene, these molluscs were identified as belonging to the species Physella acuta (Draparnaud, 1805). The paper summarizes the available information on the distribution of this species in the waterbodies of Vietnam, provides the morphological characteristics of the studied individuals, and compares them with other populations of the species found in tropic and subtropic regions. It is shown that, despite the more than twenty-year history of registration of Physella acuta in Vietnam, the species remains relatively rare in the country's waterbodies. The presence in the studied sample of individuals of different size groups suggests that, in the basin of the Dong Nai River, self-reproducing population of Physella acuta has been established.