''Bulinus'' is a genus of small tropical

freshwater snail Freshwater snails are gastropod mollusks which live in fresh water. There are many different families. They are found throughout the world in various habitats, ranging from ephemeral pools to the largest lakes, and from small seeps and springs ...

s, aquatic

gastropod The gastropods (), commonly known as snails and slugs, belong to a large taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, from freshwater, and from land. T ...

mollusks in the family Bulinidae, the ramshorn snails and their allies. MolluscaBase eds. (2020). MolluscaBase. Bulinus O. F. Müller, 1781. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=224352 on 2020-06-27 This genus is medically important because several species of ''Bulinus'' function as intermediate hosts for the

schistosomiasis Schistosomiasis, also known as snail fever, bilharzia, and Katayama fever, is a disease caused by parasitic flatworms called schistosomes. The urinary tract or the intestines may be infected. Symptoms include abdominal pain, diarrhea, bloody s ...

blood

fluke Fluke may refer to: Biology * Fluke (fish), a species of marine flatfish * Fluke (tail), the lobes of the tail of a cetacean, such as dolphins or whales, ichthyosaurs, mosasaurs Mosasaurs (from Latin ''Mosa'' meaning the 'Meuse', and Greek ...

Taxonomy

Miocene genus ''Kosovia'' was synonymized ''Bulinus'' in 2017.

Distribution

These snails are widespread in Africa including Madagascar and the Middle East. This genus has not yet become established in the USA, but it is considered to represent a potentially serious threat as a

pest Pest or The Pest may refer to: Science and medicine * Pest (organism), an animal or plant deemed to be detrimental to humans or human concerns ** Weed, a plant considered undesirable * Infectious disease, an illness resulting from an infection ** ...

, an

invasive species An invasive species otherwise known as an alien is an introduced organism that becomes overpopulated and harms its new environment. Although most introduced species are neutral or beneficial with respect to other species, invasive species ad ...

which could negatively affect agriculture, natural ecosystems, human health or commerce. Therefore it has been suggested that this species be given top national quarantine significance in the USA.

Shell description

The shell of species in the genus ''Bulinus'' is sinistral. It has a very large body whorl and a small spire.

Species

Species within the genus ''Bulinus'' have been placed into four species groups: the ''Bulinus africanus'' group, ''Bulinus forskalii'' group, ''Bulinus reticulatus'' group and the ''Bulinus truncatus/tropicus'' complex. For the most part, species have been classified on the basis of their morphology although, in recent decades, the study of

ploidy Ploidy () is the number of complete sets of chromosomes in a cell (biology), cell, and hence the number of possible alleles for Autosome, autosomal and Pseudoautosomal region, pseudoautosomal genes. Sets of chromosomes refer to the number of mat ...

, allozymes and DNA methods have all played an increasing role in species discrimination. Morphological characters, whilst adequate to allocate a specimen to a species group are sometimes unreliable when used to classify at higher resolution especially within the ''Bulinus africanus'' group. There are 37''Characterisation of Bulinus''
. Accessed 31 December 2008. (or 38 species when the '' Bulinus mutandensis'' is recognized as a separate species) species within the genus ''Bulinus'' including: ''Bulinus africanus'' group - 10 species * '' Bulinus abyssinicus'' (Martens, 1866)Brown D. S. (1994). ''Freshwater Snails of Africa and their Medical Importance''. Taylor & Francis. * '' Bulinus africanus'' (Krauss, 1848) * '' Bulinus globosus'' (Morelet, 1866) * '' Bulinus hightoni'' Brown & Wright, 1978 * '' Bulinus jousseaumei'' (Dautzenberg, 1890) * ''

Bulinus nasutus ''Bulinus nasutus'' is a species of tropical freshwater snail with a sinistral shell, an aquatic gastropod mollusk in the family Planorbidae, the ramshorn snails and their allies. Subspecies * ''Bulinus nasutus nasutus'' * ''Bulinus nasutu ...

'' (Martens, 1879) * '' Bulinus obtusispira'' (Smith, 1882) * '' Bulinus obtusus'' Mandahl-Barth, 1973 * '' Bulinus ugandae'' Mandahl-Barth, 1954 * ''

Bulinus umbilicatus ''Bulinus'' is a genus of small tropical freshwater snails, aquatic animal, aquatic gastropod mollusks in the family (biology), family Bulinidae, the ramshorn snails and their allies. MolluscaBase eds. (2020). MolluscaBase. Bulinus O. F. Mülle ...

'' Mandahl-Barth, 1973 ''Bulinus forskalii'' group - 11 species * '' Bulinus barthi'' Jelnes, 1979 * '' Bulinus bavayi'' (Dautzenberg, 1894) * '' Bulinus beccarii'' (Paladilhe, 1872) * '' Bulinus browni'' Jelnes, 1979 * ''

Bulinus camerunensis ''Bulinus camerunensis'' is a species of small air-breathing freshwater snail with a sinistral shell, an aquatic pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Planorbidae, the ramshorn snails and their allies. This species is endemic to Lake Barom ...

'' Mandahl-Barth, 1957 * '' Bulinus canescens'' (Morelet, 1868) * '' Bulinus cernicus'' (Morelet, 1867) * '' Bulinus crystallinus'' (Morelet, 1868) * ''

Bulinus forskalii ''Bulinus forskalii'' is a species of tropical freshwater snail with a sinistral shell, an aquatic gastropod mollusk in the family Bulinidae, the ramshorn snails and their allies.MolluscaBase eds. (2020). MolluscaBase. Bulinus forskalii (Ehr ...

'' (Ehrenberg, 1831) * '' Bulinus scalaris'' (Dunker, 1845) * '' Bulinus senegalensis'' Müller, 1781 - the type species of the genus ''Bulinus reticulatus'' group - 2 species * '' Bulinus reticulatus'' Mandahl-Barth, 1954 * '' Bulinus wrighti'' Mandahl-Barth, 1965 ''Bulinus truncatus/tropicus'' complex - 14-15 species * '' Bulinus angolensis'' (Morelet, 1866) * '' Bulinus depressus'' Haas, 1936 * ''

Bulinus hexaploidus ''Bulinus hexaploidus'' is a species of freshwater snail, a gastropod in the Planorbidae family. It is endemic to Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the ...

'' Burch, 1972 * '' Bulinus liratus'' (Tristram, 1863) * '' Bulinus mutandensis'' Preston, 1913 * '' Bulinus natalensis'' (Küster, 1841)Curtis B., Jørgensen A., Kristensen T. K., Stensgaard A-S. & Van Damme D. (2009)
''Bulinus natalensis''
In: IUCN 2010. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2010.4. . Retrieved 3 December 2010. * ''

Bulinus nyassanus ''Bulinus nyassanus'' is a species of small air-breathing freshwater snail with a sinistral shell, an aquatic pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Planorbidae, the ramshorn snails and their allies. This species is endemic to Lake Malawi in ...

'' (E. A. Smith, 1877) * '' Bulinus octoploidus'' Burch, 1972 * '' Bulinus permembranaceus'' (Preston, 1912) * ''

Bulinus succinoides ''Bulinus succinoides'' is a species of freshwater snail, a gastropod in the Planorbidae family. It is endemic to Lake Malawi Lake Malawi, also known as Lake Nyasa in Tanzania and Lago Niassa in Mozambique, is an African Great Lake and the ...

'' (E. A. Smith, 1877) * '' Bulinus transversalis'' (Martens, 1897) * ''

Bulinus trigonus ''Bulinus'' is a genus of small tropical freshwater snails, aquatic animal, aquatic gastropod mollusks in the family (biology), family Bulinidae, the ramshorn snails and their allies. MolluscaBase eds. (2020). MolluscaBase. Bulinus O. F. Mülle ...

'' (Martens, 1892) * '' Bulinus tropicus'' (Krauss, 1848) * ''

Bulinus truncatus ''Bulinus truncatus'' is a species of air-breathing freshwater snail with a sinistral shell, an aquatic pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the subfamily Bulininae of the family Bulinidae, the ram's horn snails and the like. MolluscaBase eds. ...

'' (Audouin, 1827) * '' Bulinus yemenensis'' Paggi et al., 1978 other * '' Bulinus rubellus'' Broderip 1832 * † '' Bulinus bouei'' (Pavlović, 1931) - from late Miocene * † '' Bulinus corici'' Harzhauser & Neubauer in Harzhauser et al., 2012 - from middle Miocene * † '' Bulinus matejici'' (Pavlović, 1931) - from middle Miocene * † '' Bulinus ornatus'' (Pavlović, 1931) - from late Miocene * † '' Bulinus pavlovici'' (Atanacković, 1959) - from late Miocene * † '' Bulinus stevanovici'' (Atanacković, 1959) - late Miocene * † ''

Bulinus striatus ''Bulinus'' is a genus of small tropical freshwater snails, aquatic gastropod mollusks in the family Bulinidae, the ramshorn snails and their allies. MolluscaBase eds. (2020). MolluscaBase. Bulinus O. F. Müller, 1781. Accessed through: Wo ...

'' (Milošević, 1978) - late Miocene

References

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External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q291487