Lanistes nyassanus
Species of gastropod
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lanistes nyassanus is a species of large freshwater snail, an aquatic gastropod mollusk with a gill and an operculum in the family Ampullariidae, the apple snails. The shell of this species is unusual in that it has left-handed shell-coiling.
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| Lanistes nyassanus | |
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| L. nyassanus exhibit at the Naturalis Biodiversity Center | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| Subclass: | Caenogastropoda |
| Order: | Architaenioglossa |
| Family: | Ampullariidae |
| Genus: | Lanistes |
| Species: | L. nyassanus |
| Binomial name | |
| Lanistes nyassanus | |
The specific name nyassanus is derived from the type locality of the species, Lake Nyassa.
Distribution
Lanistes nyassanus is found in Malawi and Mozambique.[1] Found in sand and weeds, it is common at 1.5 meters depth, but some have been found as deep as 35 meters.[1]
The type locality is the southern end of Lake Nyassa.[2]
Description
The width of the shell is 75 mm; the height of the shell is 68 mm.[3]
Behavior
These snails burrow into sand to hide from fish.[1]
