Neothauma tanganyicense
Species of gastropod
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Neothauma tanganyicense is a species of freshwater snail with a gill and an operculum, an aquatic gastropod mollusc in the subfamily Bellamyinae of the family Viviparidae.[3]
| Neothauma tanganyicense | |
|---|---|
| |
| Shell of Neothauma tanganyicense | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| Subclass: | Caenogastropoda |
| Order: | Architaenioglossa |
| Family: | Viviparidae |
| Genus: | Neothauma |
| Species: | N. tanganyicense |
| Binomial name | |
| Neothauma tanganyicense E. A. Smith, 1880[2] | |
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.[1]
The type locality is the East shore of Lake Tanganyika, at Ujiji.[4]
Description
Ecology
This species lives in depths of up to 65 m (213 ft).[4] There is conflicting information relating to its feeding behavior, with one study referring to it as a detritus-feeder,[5] another saying that it actively preys on endobenthic organisms,[6] and finally that it feeds on particulate organic filtered while the snail is buried.[7]
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),[8] and freshwater crabs of the genus Platythelphusa.[9] Juvenile snails live in the sediment in order to avoid predators.[4]
