Microcolpia parreyssii parreyssii (Philippi, 1847)
Parreys' thermal snail, Parreys snail, bordás homorcsa, váradi maradványcsiga, melcul termal
Taxonomy & Nomenclature
Synonyms: Melania parreyssii Philippi, 1847; Melanopsis parreyssii (Philippi, 1847); Melanopsis hungarica Kormos, 1904; Melanopsis sublanceolata Kormos, 1905; Melanopsis szontaghi Kormos, 1905
Conservation Status
Extinct (Ford, 2024; Fehér, 2026)
Last (wild) record: mid-2010's or before (Sîrbu & Benedek, 2016; Ford, 2024); early 2014 to September 2014 (Fehér, 2026)
Last (captive) record: very early June 2016 (Fehér, 2026)
IUCN RedList status: Extinct (species assessment); Extinct (under account for Scardinius racovitzai)
"The lake was heavily-vegetated and supported two other endemic taxa, comprising the melanopsid gastropod Microcolpia parreyssii, which has been globally extinct since the mid-2010s, and water lily subspecies Nymphaea lotus var. thermalis, small numbers of which survive at several other locations in the Peța River system."
(Ford, 2024)
Distribution & Habitat
Bulgaria (introduced), Hungray (introduced) & Lake Pețea (=Ochiul Mare), vicinity of Oradea, Bihor County, northwestern Romania
Anatomy & Morphology
Biology & Ecology
Hypodigm
Media
References
Original scientific description:
Philippi, R. A. (1842-1850). Abbildungen und Beschreibungen neuer oder wenig gekannter Conchylien unter Mithülfe mehrerer deutscher Conchyliologen. Cassel, T. Fischer. Vol. 1: 1-20 [1842], 21-76 [1843], 77-186 [1844], 187-204 [1845]; Vol. 2: 1-64 [1845], 65-152 [1846], 153-232 [1847] ; Vol. 3: 1-50 [1847], 51-82 [1848], 1-88 [1849], 89-138 [1850].
Other references:
Bank, R., von Proschwitz, T. and Falkner, G. (2006). Unpublished manuscript of the mollusca section of the Fauna Europea web-site (http://www.faunaeur.org).
Cowie, Robert H., Régnier, Claire, Fontaine, Benoît, and Bouchet, Philippe. (2017). Measuring the Sixth Extinction: what do mollusks tell us? The Nautilus 131(1): 3-41.
Cuttelod, A., Seddon, M. and Neubert, E. (2011). European Red List of Non-marine Molluscs. Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg.
Fehér, Z. (2011). Melanopsis parreyssii. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2011: e.T155737A4835365. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2011-1.RLTS.T155737A4835365.en. Downloaded on 08 April 2017.
Fehér, Z. (2026). Microcolpia parreyssii. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2026: e.T155737A72321631. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2026-1.RLTS.T155737A72321631.en. Accessed on 04 August 2026.
Fehér, Z., Majoros, G. and Varga, A. (2006). A scoring method for the assessment of rarity and conservation value of the aquatic molluscs in Hungary. Heldia 6: 101-114.
Ford, M. (2024). Scardinius racovitzai. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2024: e.T19948A137328770. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2024-2.RLTS.T19948A137328770.en. Accessed on 02 June 2025.
Glöer, P. (2019). The Freshwater Gastropoda of the West-Palaearctis. Volume 1. Fresh- and brackish waters except spring and subterranean snails. Identification Key, Anatomy, Ecology, Distribution. Self-published.
Kormos, T. (1904). Új adatok a Püspökfürdő élő csigáinak ismeretéhez Állattani Közlemények 3: 102-111.
Kormos, T. (1905). Über den Ursprung der Thermenfauna von Püspökfürdö. Földtani Közlöny 35: 421-450.
Majoros G. (2022). The significance of synanthropic and non-native molluscs in Hungary, pp. 19-30. In: Haraszthy, L. (ed.). Invasive Animal Species in Hungary. Budapest: Duna–Ipoly National Park Directorate – Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary.
MolluscaBase eds. (2025). MolluscaBase. Microcolpia parreyssii parreyssii (R. A. Philippi, 1847). Accessed at: https://www.molluscabase.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=1420516 on 2026-07-30
Neubauer, T.A., Harzhauser, M., Georgopoulou, E. and Wrozyna, C. 2014. Population bottleneck triggering millennial-scale morphospace shifts in endemic thermal-spring melanopsids. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 414: 116-128.
Pinter, L., Richnovszky, A. and Szigethy, A.S. 1979. A magyarországy recens puhatestüek elterjedése. Soosiana Supplement 1: 1-351.
Sîrbu, I. and Benedek, A. M. (2016). Requiem for Melanopsis parreyssii or the anatomy of a new extinction in Romania. Tentacle 24: 26-28.
Sîrbu, I., Gagiu, A. and Benedek, A. M. (2013). On the brink of extinction: fate of the Peţea thermal lake (Romania) and its endemic species. Tentacle 21: 35-37.
Smoleń, M and Falniowski, A. 2009. Molecular Phylogeny and Estimated Time of Divergence in the Central European Melanopsidae: Melanopsis, Fagotia and Holandriana (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Cerithioidea. Folia Malacologica 17(1): 1-9.
Soós L. 1943. A Kárpát-medence Mollusca faunája. Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest.
Sümegi P, Gulyás S, Molnár D, Náfrádi K, Törőcsik T, Sümegi BP, Müller T, Szilágyi G, Varga Z. 2018. Ice Age Terrestrial and Freshwater Gastropod Refugia in the Carpathian Basin, Central Europe. In: Ray S (ed.), Biological Resources of Water, InTechOpen.
Sümegi, P., Molnár, D., Sávai, S. and Gulyás, S. 2012a. Malacofauna evolution of the Lake Peţea (Püspökfürdő), Oradea region, Romania. Nymphaea 39: 5-29.
Sümegi, P., Molnár, D., Sávai, S. and Töviskes, R.J. 2012b. Preliminary radiocarbon dated paleontological and geological data for the Quaternary malacofauna at Püspökfürdõ (Baile 1 Mai, Oradea region, Romania). Malakológiai Tájékoztató 30: 31-37.
https://extinctanimals.proboards.com/thread/20787/melanopsis-parreyssii