''Bulinus'' 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 small

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

freshwater snails, 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 Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Bulinidae Bulinidae is a family of gastropods in the superfamily LymnaeoideaMolluscaBase eds. (2020). MolluscaBase. Bulinidae P. Fischer & Crosse, 1880. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdet ...

, 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 A host is a person responsible for guests at an event or for providing hospitality during it. Host may also refer to: Places *Host, Pennsylvania, a village in Berks County People *Jim Host (born 1937), American businessman *Michel Host ( ...

for the schistosomiasis blood fluke.

Taxonomy

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

Distribution

These snails are widespread in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

including

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

and the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

. This genus has not yet become established in the USA, but it is considered to represent a potentially serious threat as a pest, an invasive species which could negatively affect agriculture, natural ecosystems, human health or commerce. Therefore it has been suggested that this species be given top national

quarantine A quarantine is a restriction on the movement of people, animals and goods which is intended to prevent the spread of disease or pests. It is often used in connection to disease and illness, preventing the movement of those who may have been ...

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 group In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...

s: the ''Bulinus africanus'' group, ''Bulinus forskalii'' group, ''Bulinus reticulatus'' group and the ''Bulinus truncatus/tropicus''

complex Complex commonly refers to: * Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe ** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...

. For the most part, species have been classified on the basis of their morphology although, in recent decades, the study of ploidy,

allozymes Alloenzymes (or also called allozymes) are variant forms of an enzyme which differ structurally but not functionally from other allozymes coded for by different alleles at the same locus. These are opposed to isozymes, which are enzymes that perfo ...

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 ''Bulinus mutandensis'' is a species of freshwater gastropod in the Planorbidae family. It is endemic to Uganda. Its natural habitat is freshwater lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and ...

'' is recognized as a separate species) species within the genus ''Bulinus'' including: ''Bulinus africanus'' group - 10 species * ''

Bulinus abyssinicus ''Bulinus abyssinicus'' 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. The specific name ''abyssinicus'' is after Abyssinia, whic ...

'' (Martens, 1866)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 ...

. * ''

Bulinus africanus ''Bulinus africanus'' is a species of a tropical freshwater snail with a sinistral shell, an aquatic gastropod mollusk in the family Planorbidae Planorbidae, common name the ramshorn snails or ram's horn snails, is a family of air-breathin ...

'' (Krauss, 1848) * ''

Bulinus globosus ''Bulinus globosus'' is a species of a tropical freshwater snail with a sinistral shell, an aquatic gastropod mollusk in the family Planorbidae, the ramshorn snails and their allies. Parasites ''Bulinus globosus'' is an intermediary host of ...

'' (Morelet, 1866) * ''

Bulinus hightoni ''Bulinus hightoni'' is a species of freshwater snail, an aquatic gastropod mollusk in the family Planorbidae, the ram's horn snails. Distribution This species is endemic to Kenya, Africa. Habitat This snail lives in rivers, intermittent rive ...

'' Brown & Wright, 1978 * ''

Bulinus jousseaumei ''Bulinus jousseaumei'' is a species of tropical freshwater snail, an aquatic gastropod mollusk in the family Planorbidae, the ramshorn snails and their allies. Like other planorbids, the shell of the species is sinistral in coiling. Distribut ...

'' (Dautzenberg, 1890) * '' Bulinus nasutus'' (Martens, 1879) * ''

Bulinus obtusispira ''Bulinus obtusispira'' is a species of a tropical freshwater snail with a sinistral shell, an aquatic gastropod mollusk in the family Planorbidae, the ramshorn snails and their allies. Distribution The type locality is about 32 km f ...

'' (Smith, 1882) * '' Bulinus obtusus'' Mandahl-Barth, 1973 * ''

Bulinus ugandae ''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: World ...

'' Mandahl-Barth, 1954 * '' Bulinus umbilicatus'' Mandahl-Barth, 1973 ''Bulinus forskalii'' group - 11 species * '' Bulinus barthi'' Jelnes, 1979 * '' Bulinus bavayi'' (Dautzenberg, 1894) * '' Bulinus beccarii'' (Paladilhe, 1872) * ''

Bulinus browni ''Bulinus browni'' is a species of freshwater snail, a gastropod in the Planorbidae family. It is endemic to Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map ...

'' Jelnes, 1979 * '' Bulinus camerunensis'' Mandahl-Barth, 1957 * '' Bulinus canescens'' (Morelet, 1868) * ''

Bulinus cernicus ''Bulinus cernicus'' is a species of small air-breathing freshwater snail, an aquatic pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Planorbidae, the ramshorn snails and their allies. This species is found in Mauritius and Reunion Island Reunion ...

'' (Morelet, 1867) * '' Bulinus crystallinus'' (Morelet, 1868) * '' Bulinus forskalii'' (Ehrenberg, 1831) * '' Bulinus scalaris'' (Dunker, 1845) * ''

Bulinus senegalensis ''Bulinus senegalensis'' is a species of gastropods 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 sl ...

'' Müller, 1781 - the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specime ...

of the genus ''Bulinus reticulatus'' group - 2 species * ''

Bulinus reticulatus ''Bulinus reticulatus'' is a species group of a tropical freshwater snail with a sinistral shell, an aquatic gastropod mollusk in the family Planorbidae Planorbidae, common name the ramshorn snails or ram's horn snails, is a family of air- ...

'' Mandahl-Barth, 1954 * ''

Bulinus wrighti ''Bulinus wrighti'' is a species of small tropical air-breathing freshwater snail with a sinistral shell, an aquatic animal, aquatic pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family (biology), family Planorbidae, the ramshorn snails and their allies.Br ...

'' Mandahl-Barth, 1965 ''Bulinus truncatus/tropicus'' complex - 14-15 species * ''

Bulinus angolensis ''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: World ...

'' (Morelet, 1866) * '' Bulinus depressus'' Haas, 1936 * '' Bulinus hexaploidus'' Burch, 1972 * ''

Bulinus liratus ''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 ...

'' (Tristram, 1863) * ''

'' Preston, 1913 * ''

Bulinus natalensis ''Bulinus natalensis'' is a species of a tropical freshwater snail with a sinistral shell, an aquatic gastropod mollusk in the family Planorbidae, the ramshorn snails and their allies. Its geographical distribution is largely limited to Kwazul ...

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

Bulinus transversalis ''Bulinus transversalis'' 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 found in Kenya and U ...

'' (Martens, 1897) * '' Bulinus trigonus'' (Martens, 1892) * ''

Bulinus tropicus ''Bulinus tropicus'' is a species of a 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 tropicus (F. Kr ...

'' (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. (2 ...

'' (Audouin, 1827) * '' Bulinus yemenensis'' Paggi et al., 1978 other * '' Bulinus rubellus'' Broderip 1832 * † '' Bulinus bouei'' (Pavlović, 1931) - from late Miocene * † ''

Bulinus corici ''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: World ...

'' 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'' (Milošević, 1978) - late Miocene

References

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External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q291487