Melanoides victoriae

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Melanoides victoriae
Melanoides victoriae shell.png
apertural view of a shell of Melanoides victoriae
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
(unranked):clade Caenogastropoda
clade Sorbeoconcha
Superfamily: Cerithioidea
Family: Thiaridae
Genus: Melanoides
Species:M. victoriae
Binomial name
Melanoides victoriae
(Dohrn, 1865) [1]
Synonyms

Melania victoriae Dohrn, 1865

Melanoides victoriae is a species of a freshwater snail, a gastropod in the Thiaridae family. [2]

Freshwater snail

Freshwater snails are gastropod mollusks which live in freshwater. 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 to major rivers. The great majority of freshwater gastropods have a shell, with very few exceptions. Some groups of snails that live in freshwater respire using gills, whereas other groups need to reach the surface to breathe air. In addition, some are amphibious and have both gills and a lung. Most feed on algae, but many are detritivors and some are filter feeders.

Thiaridae family of molluscs

Thiaridae, common name thiarids or trumpet snails, is a family of tropical freshwater snails with an operculum, aquatic gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Cerithioidea.

Contents

Distribution

The type locality is "the rapids above the Victoria Falls of the Zambezi", [1] Zambezi River at Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. [2]

Zambezi fourth-longest river in Africa

The Zambezi is the fourth-longest river in Africa, the longest east-flowing river in Africa and the largest flowing into the Indian Ocean from Africa. The area of its basin is 1,390,000 square kilometres (540,000 sq mi), slightly less than half of the Nile's. The 2,574-kilometre-long river (1,599 mi) rises in Zambia and flows through eastern Angola, along the north-eastern border of Namibia and the northern border of Botswana, then along the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe to Mozambique, where it crosses the country to empty into the Indian Ocean.

Victoria Falls a waterfall in southern Africa

Victoria Falls is a waterfall in southern Africa on the Zambezi River at the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Distribution of Melanoides victoriae include:

East Caprivi former bantustan in South-West Africa (now Namibia)

East Caprivi was a bantustan in South West Africa, intended by the apartheid government to be a self-governing homeland for the Lozi people. It was set up in 1972, in the very corner of the Namibian panhandle called Caprivi Strip. It was granted a self-governing status in 1976. The homeland was renamed Lozi soon after. Not like the other homelands in South West Africa, Lozi was directly administrated through the Department of Bantu Administration and Development in Pretoria.

Okavango River river in southwestern Africa

The Okavango River is a river in southwest Africa. It is the fourth-longest river system in southern Africa, running southeastward for 1,600 km (990 mi). It begins in Angola, where it is known by the Portuguese name Rio Cubango. Further south, it forms part of the border between Angola and Namibia, and then flows into Botswana, draining into the Moremi Game Reserve.

Cunene River river in Southern Africa

The Cunene River or Kunene River is a river in Southern Africa. It flows from the Angola highlands south to the border with Namibia. It then flows west along the border until it reaches the Atlantic Ocean. It is one of the few perennial rivers in the region. It is about 1,050 kilometres (652 mi) long, with a drainage basin 106,560 square kilometres (41,143 sq mi) in area. Its mean annual discharge is 174 m³/s at its mouth. The Epupa Falls lie on the river. Olushandja Dam dams a tributary of the river, the Etaka, and helps provide the Ruacana Power Station with water.

Description

The width of the shell is 10 mm. [2] The height of the shell is 29 mm. [2]

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References

  1. 1 2 Dohrn H. (1865). "List of the land and freshwater shells of the Zambezi and Lake Nyasa, eastern tropical Africa, collected by John Kirk". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1865: 231-234. page 234.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Brown D. S. (1994). Freshwater Snails of Africa and their Medical Importance. Taylor & Francis. ISBN   0-7484-0026-5.


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