''Tylomelania'' is a
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...
of
freshwater snails which have an
operculum,
aquatic gastropod mollusk
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 e ...
s in the family
Pachychilidae
Pachychilidae, common name pachychilids, is a taxonomic family of freshwater snails, gastropod molluscs in the clade Sorbeoconcha.Gofas, S. (2014). Pachychilidae. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecie ...
. In the aquarium hobby, snails from this genus are commonly known as "rabbit snails" (not to be confused with
sea hares).
A
sister group (the closest relative) of ''Tylomelania'' is genus ''
Pseudopotamis'' (2 species living on the
Torres Strait Islands
The Torres Strait Islands are a group of at least 274 small islands in the Torres Strait, a waterway separating far northern continental Australia's Cape York Peninsula and the island of New Guinea. They span an area of , but their total land ...
).
[von Rintelen T., Stelbrink B. Marwoto R. M. & Glaubrecht M. (2014). "A Snail Perspective on the Biogeography of Sulawesi, Indonesia: Origin and Intra-Island Dispersal of the Viviparous Freshwater Gastropod ''Tylomelania''". ''PLoS ONE'' 9(6): e98917. .] ''Tylomelania'' and ''Pseudopotamis'' split in the
Middle Miocene c. 19.5 Mya.
Distribution
These freshwater snails are
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...
to
Sulawesi in
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
,
with the vast majority restricted to
Lake Poso
Lake Poso ( id, Danau Poso) is a lake in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, and the third-deepest lake in Indonesia.
The town of Pendolo is situated at the southern end of the lake, the town of Tentena is located at the northern end, while a numbe ...
and the Malili Lake system (consisting of
Matano and
Towuti, and the smaller
Lontoa (Wawantoa),
Mahalona,
Masapi).
[von Rintelen T., von Rintelen K. & Glaubrecht M. (2010). "The species flock of the viviparous freshwater gastropod ''Tylomelania'' (Mollusca: Cerithioidea: Pachychilidae) in the ancient lakes of Sulawesi, Indonesia: the role of geography, trophic morphology and colour as driving forces in adaptive radiation." pp. 485–512 in: Glaubrecht, M. & Schneider H. eds. (2010). ''Evolution in Action: Adaptive Radiations and the Origins of Biodiversity''. Springer Verlag, Heidelberg, Germany.]
They probably cannot live at an altitude above about 700 m.
Species
There were known 34 described species in 2005.
Thomas von Rintelen with colleagues described 15 new species of ''Tylomelania'' in 2003–2008.
''Tylomelania'' species diversification started in c. 5.4 Mya and was probably caused by the
late Miocene and
Pliocene
The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.333 million to 2.58[orogeny.](_blank)
Species within the genus ''Tylomelania'' include:
* '' Tylomelania abendanoni'' (Kruimel, 1913)
* '' Tylomelania amphiderita'' von Rintelen, Bouchet & Glaubrecht, 2007[von Rintelen, Bouchet P. & Glaubrecht M. (2007). "Ancient lakes as hotspots of diversity: a morphological review of an endemic species flock of ''Tylomelania'' (Gastropoda: Cerithioidea: Pachychilidae) in the Malili lake system on Sulawesi, Indonesia". ''Hydrobiologia'' 592:11–94. .]
* '' Tylomelania bakara'' von Rintelen & Glaubrecht, 2003[von Rintelen T. & Glaubrecht M. (2003). "New discoveries in old lakes: three new species of ''Tylomelania'' Sarasin & Sarasin, 1897 (Gastropoda: Cerithioidea: Pachychilidae) from the Malili lake system on Sulawesi, Indonesia". '']Journal of Molluscan Studies
The ''Journal of Molluscan Studies'' is the peer-reviewed scientific journal of the Malacological Society of London, covering research in malacology. '' 69(1): 3–17.
* '' Tylomelania baskasti'' von Rintelen & Glaubrecht, 2008[von Rintelen T. & Glaubrecht M. (2008). "Three new species of the freshwater snail genus ''Tylomelania'' (Caenogastropoda: Pachychilidae) from the Malili lake system, Sulawesi, Indonesia". '']Zootaxa
''Zootaxa'' is a peer-reviewed scientific mega journal for animal taxonomists. It is published by Magnolia Press (Auckland, New Zealand). The journal was established by Zhi-Qiang Zhang in 2001 and new issues are published multiple times a week ...
'' 1852: 37–49
PDF
* '' Tylomelania carbo'' Sarasin & Sarasin, 1897
* '' Tylomelania carota'' (Sarasin & Sarasin, 1898)
* '' Tylomelania celebicola'' (Sarasin & Sarasin, 1898)
* '' Tylomelania centaurus'' (Sarasin & Sarasin, 1898)
* '' Tylomelania confusa'' von Rintelen, Bouchet & Glaubrecht, 2007
* '' Tylomelania connectens'' Sarasin & Sarasin, 1898
* '' Tylomelania gemmifera'' (Sarasin & Sarasin, 1897)
* '' Tylomelania hannelorae'' von Rintelen & Glaubrecht, 2008
* '' Tylomelania helmuti'' von Rintelen & Glaubrecht, 2003
* '' Tylomelania inconspicua'' von Rintelen, Bouchet & Glaubrecht, 2007
* '' Tylomelania insulaesacrae'' (Sarasin & Sarasin, 1897)
* '' Tylomelania kristinae'' von Rintelen, Bouchet & Glaubrecht, 2007
* '' Tylomelania kruimeli'' von Rintelen & Glaubrecht, 2003
* '' Tylomelania kuli'' (Sarasin & Sarasin, 1898)
* '' Tylomelania lalemae'' (Kruimel, 1913)
* '' Tylomelania mahalonensis'' (Kruimel, 1913) – synonym: ''Tylomelania mahalonica'' (Kruimel, 1913)