Neothauma Explained

Neothauma is a genus of freshwater snail with a gill and an operculum, an aquatic gastropod mollusc in the subfamily Bellamyinae of the family Viviparidae. [1]

Species

Taxa inquirenda:
Species brought into synonymy:

Distribution

This freshwater snail is only found in Lake Tanganyika, where it is the largest gastropod, and occurs in all four of the bordering countries — Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, and Zambia — although fossil shells have been discovered at Lake Edward and in the Lake Albert basin.

The type locality is the East shore of Lake Tanganyika, at Ujiji.[4]

History

The genus Neothauma previously contained several species, but most were reassigned to other genera.[5]

Description

The width of the shell is 46mm.[4] The height of the shell is 60mm.[4]

Ecology

This species lives in depths of up to 65m (213feet).[4] There is conflicting information relating to its feeding behavior, with one study referring to it as a detritus-feeder,[6] another saying that it actively preys on endobenthic organisms,[7] and finally that it feeds on particulate organic filtered while the snail is buried.[8]

The shells of dead Neothauma tanganyicense often form carpets over large areas, and are used by a number of other animals, such as cichlid fish (shell dwellers),[9] and freshwater crabs of the genus Platythelphusa.[10] Juvenile snails live in the sediment in order to avoid predators.[4]

External links

Notes and References

  1. MolluscaBase eds. (2021). MolluscaBase. Neothauma E. A. Smith, 1880. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=994450 on 2021-09-19
  2. https://science.mnhn.fr/institution/mnhn/collection/im/item/2000-4619?listIndex=211&listCount=241 MNHN, Paris: syntype of Neothauma jouberti
  3. . 52 . 3 . 2009 . 797–805 . 10.1016/j.ympev.2009.05.007 . Molecular phylogenetic investigations of the Viviparidae (Gastropoda: Caenogastropoda) in the lakes of the Rift Valley area of Africa . Mita E. Sengupta . Thomas K. Kristensen . Henry Madsen . Aslak Jørgensen . amp . 19435609.
  4. Brown D. S. (1994). Freshwater Snails of Africa and their Medical Importance. Taylor & Francis. .
  5. Book: Bourguignat, Jules René. Iconographie malacologique des animaux mollusques fluviatiles du Lac Tanganika. Impr. Crété. 1888-01-01. fr.
  6. Palacios-Fest, M.R. . S.R. Alin . A.S. Cohen . B. Tanner . H. Heuser . 2005 . Paleolimnological investigations of anthropogenic environmental change in Lake Tanganyika: IV. Lacustrine paleoecology . Journal of Paleolimnology . 34 . 51–71 . 10.1007/s10933-005-2397-1 . 10.1.1.489.2218 .
  7. Van Damme, D. . Pickford, M. . 1998 . The late Cenozoic Viviparidae (Mollusca, Gastropoda) of the Albertine Rift Valley . Hydrobiologia . 390 . 1 . 171–217 . 10.1023/A:1003518218109 .
  8. West, K. . Cohen, A. . Baron, M. . 1991 . Morphology and behavior of crabs and gastropods from Lake Tanganyika, Africa: Implications for lacustrine predator-prey coevolution . Evolution . 45 . 3 . 589–607 . 10.1111/j.1558-5646.1991.tb04331.x . 28568834 . free .
  9. . 2007 . 7 . 7 . 10.1186/1471-2148-7-7 . Reticulate phylogeny of gastropod-shell-breeding cichlids from Lake Tanganyika — the result of repeated introgressive hybridization . Stephan Koblmüller . Nina Duftner . Kristina M Sefc . Mitsuto Aibara . Martina Stipacek . Michel Blanc . Bernd Egger . Christian Sturmbauer . amp . 1790888 . 17254340 . free .
  10. 10.1080/002229399299860 . N. Cumberlidge . R. von Sternberg . I. R. Bills . H. Martin . amp . 1999 . A revision of the genus Platythelphusa A. Milne-Edwards, 1887 from Lake Tanganyika, East Africa (Decapoda: Potamoidea: Platythelphusidae) . . 33 . 10 . 1487–1512 . 10.1.1.654.5532 .

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