''Neothauma '' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

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 ...

with a

gill A gill () is a respiratory organ that many aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow respiration on land provided they are ...

and an operculum, an 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 ...

mollusc Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is esti ...

in the subfamily Bellamyinae of the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Viviparidae Viviparidae, sometimes known as the river snails or mystery snails, are a family of large operculate freshwater snails, aquatic gastropod mollusks. This family is classified in the informal group Architaenioglossa according to the taxonomy of ...

. 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

Species

* '' Neothauma jouberti'' Bourguignat, 1888 * † '' Neothauma jupadwongaensis'' Musalizi, 2017 * ''

Neothauma tanganyicense ''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. MolluscaBase eds. (2021). MolluscaBase. Neothauma E. A. Smith, 1880. Accessed th ...

'' E. A. Smith, 1880 Brown D. S. (1994). ''Freshwater Snails of Africa and their Medical Importance''.

Taylor & Francis Taylor & Francis Group is an international company originating in England that publishes books and academic journals. Its parts include Taylor & Francis, Routledge, F1000 (publisher), F1000 Research or Dovepress. It is a division of Informa ...

. . ;Taxa inquirenda: * ''Neothauma bridouxianum'' Grandidier, 1885 * ''Neothauma servainianum'' Grandidier, 1885 ;Species brought into synonymy: * ''Neothauma bicarinatum'' Bourguignat, 1885: synonym of ''Neothauma tanganyicense var. bicarinatum'' Bourguignat, 1885 * ''Neothauma ecclesi'' Pain & Crowley, 1964: synonym of ''

Bellamya ecclesi ''Bellamya ecclesi'' is a species of large freshwater snail with a gill and an operculum, an aquatic gastropod mollusc in the family Viviparidae. This species is found in Malawi and Mozambique. Its natural habitat is freshwater lakes. It wa ...

'' (Crowley & Pain, 1964) (original combination) * ''Neothauma giraudi'' Bourguignat, 1885: synonym of ''Neothauma tanganyicense'' E. A. Smith, 1880 (junior synonym)

Distribution

This freshwater snail is only found in

Lake Tanganyika Lake Tanganyika () is an African Great Lake. It is the second-oldest freshwater lake in the world, the second-largest by volume, and the second-deepest, in all cases after Lake Baikal in Siberia. It is the world's longest freshwater lake. ...

, where it is the largest gastropod, and occurs in all four of the bordering countries —

Burundi Burundi (, ), officially the Republic of Burundi ( rn, Repuburika y’Uburundi ; Swahili language, Swahili: ''Jamuhuri ya Burundi''; French language, French: ''République du Burundi'' ), is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley at the ...

, the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

, and

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

— although

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

shells have been discovered at

Lake Edward Lake Edward (locally Rwitanzigye or Rweru) is one of the smaller African Great Lakes. It is located in the Albertine Rift, the western branch of the East African Rift, on the border between the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda, w ...

and in the Lake Albert basin. The type locality is the East shore of Lake Tanganyika, at

Ujiji Ujiji is a historic town located in Kigoma-Ujiji District of Kigoma Region in Tanzania. The town is the oldest in western Tanzania. In 1900, the population was estimated at 10,000 and in 1967 about 41,000. The site is a registered National Histo ...

History

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

Description

The width of the

shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses ** Thin-shell structure Science Biology * Seashell, a hard ou ...

is . The height of the shell is .

Ecology

This species lives in depths of up to . There is conflicting information relating to its feeding behavior, with one study referring to it as a

detritus In biology, detritus () is dead particulate organic material, as distinguished from dissolved organic material. Detritus typically includes the bodies or fragments of bodies of dead organisms, and fecal material. Detritus typically hosts commun ...

-feeder, another saying that it actively preys on endobenthic organisms, and finally that it feeds on particulate organic filtered while the snail is buried. 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 Cichlids are fish from the family Cichlidae in the order Cichliformes. Cichlids were traditionally classed in a suborder, the Labroidei, along with the wrasses ( Labridae), in the order Perciformes, but molecular studies have contradicted this ...

(

shell dwellers The terms shell dwellers or shelldwellers, shell-breeding, or ostracophil are descriptive terms for cichlid fish that use the empty shells of aquatic snails as sites for breeding and shelter. The terms have no taxonomic basis, although most she ...

), and

freshwater crab Around 1,300 species of freshwater crabs are distributed throughout the tropics and subtropics, divided among eight families. They show direct development and maternal care of a small number of offspring, in contrast to marine crabs, which relea ...

s of the genus ''

Platythelphusa ''Platythelphusa'' is a genus of freshwater crabs endemism, endemic to Lake Tanganyika. It has been placed in a number of families, including a monotypic family (biology), family, Platythelphusidae, as well as Potamidae and its current position i ...

''. Juvenile snails live in the sediment in order to avoid predators.

References

External links

*
Bourguignat (1890), "Histoire malacologique du Lac Tanganika (Afrique equaltoriale)"
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3319970 Viviparidae Gastropods described in 1880 Monotypic gastropod genera Taxa named by Edgar Albert Smith Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Snails of Lake Tanganyika