Red-rimmed melania
The red-rimmed melania, also known as the Malayan livebearing snail or Malayan/Malaysian trumpet snail, is a species of freshwater snail with an operculum, a parthenogenetic, aquatic gastropod mollusk in the family Thiaridae.
The common name comes from the presence of reddish spots on their otherwise greenish-brown shells.
The species name is sometimes spelled M. tuberculatus, but this is incorrect because Melanoides Olivier, 1804 was clearly intended to be feminine because it was combined with the feminine specific epithet fasciolata in the original description.
This species is native to northern Africa and southern Asia, but it has been accidentally introduced in many other tropical and subtropical areas worldwide. It has also been accidentally introduced to heated aquaria in colder parts of the world.
Subspecies
- † M. t. dadiana
- † M. t. monolithica
- † M. t. tegalensis
- ''M. t. tuberculata''
Shell description
This species has an elongated, conical shell, which is usually light brown, marked with rust-colored spots. An operculum is present. In some places, such as in Israel, the shells are colored in black or dark brown, probably to help conceal the snail on the background of the basalt rocks of the Sea of Galilee.The average shell length is about or, but exceptional specimens may be up to long. Shells of this species have 10–15 whorls.
Distribution
This species is speculated to be native to subtropical and tropical Africa, Indo-Pacific region, and South Asia, as well as the Arabian Peninsula, or to northern Africa and southern Asia.;In Africa:
- Algeria, Burundi, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Libya, Malawi, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger,
- South Africa
- Botswana, Eswatini, Senegal, Sudan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Zimbabwe.
- Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Israel, Japan, Taiwan, Laos, Malaysia, Nepal, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Vietnam
- Thailand
Nonindigenous distribution
- Cuba
- United States since the 1930s
- Latin America in the late 1960s
- Brazil – since 1967
- Netherlands – before 1990
- New Zealand
- Venezuela
- Dominica
- Trinidad
- and others
- Czech Republic
- Germany
- Great Britain
- Slovakia – thermal brook in the wild
Nonindigenous distribution in the United States
This species has become established outside of its natural range in large part through the activities of aquarists. These snails were imported to the United States by the aquarium trade as early as the 1930s. Established populations exist from Florida to Texas, and the species may still be expanding its range in the West and Northeast. Some of these exotic populations have become very large, with densities of being reported from the St. Johns River in Florida. In some cases red-rimmed melanias are believed to have a negative impact on native snail populations.The nonindigenous distribution includes the United States: Arizona; San Francisco Bay, California; Colorado; Florida; Hawaiʻi; Louisiana; Montana; North Carolina; Nevada; Oregon; Utah; Texas, and Fall River County in South Dakota,
Ecology
This is primarily a burrowing species that tends to be most active at night.Habitat
Although normally a freshwater snail, this species is very tolerant of brackish water, and has been recorded in waters with a salinity of 32.5 ppt.It is, though, a warm-climate species. It appears to prefer a temperature range of or. Research has been conducted to determine the snail's lethal high water temperature, which is about. This information is helpful in the disinfection of fishing gear and research equipment, which otherwise may inadvertently spread the snails to uninfested waters.
This species is resistant to low oxygen levels. Its pollution tolerance value is 3.
Feeding habits
This snail feeds primarily on algae and detritus.Lifecycle
Red-rimmed melania females are both parthenogenic and ovoviviparous. Females can be recognized by their greenish-coloured gonads, while males have reddish gonads. The males are rare, making up for 10 to 33% of population. Under good conditions, females produce fertilised eggs that are transferred to a brood pouch, where they remain until they hatch. Melanoides tuberculata has 1–64 embryos in its brood pouch. Snails will begin reproducing at a size as small as or in length and broods may contain over 70 offspring. The size of the shell of the parent at peak release of juveniles is. The size of juveniles at birth is.Melanoides tuberculata grows to a similar size as Tarebia granifera, and is similar in size at first birth and juvenile output.
It is a r-strategist species.
Parasites
Melanoides tuberculata is known to carry certain parasites, which can be dangerous to humans. Pinto & de Melo compiled a checklist of 37 species of trematode parasites from this species of snail. Eleven of those trematodes are also parasites of human. These snails serve as first intermediate host for parasites which include:Clonorchis sinensis – Chinese liver flukeCentrocestus formosanusParagonimus westermani – Oriental lung flukeParagonimus kellicottiAngiostrongylus cantonensisLoxogenoides bicolorTransversotrema larueiSticiodora tridactylGastrodiscus aegyptiacusPhilophthalmus gralliPhilophthalmus distomatosaHaplorchis pumilioHaplorchis sp.MetagonimusDiorchitrema formosanum- unknown species in Schistosomatidae
Agricultural pests
Red-rimmed melania can sometimes be an agricultural pest species, as has been reported on Chinese cabbage plantations in Hong Kong.Aquaria
Red-rimmed melania are quite commonly found in freshwater aquaria, but opinion in the hobby is divided between those who see them as a pest species and those who value their usefulness as algae eaters and substrate cleaners.Synonyms
Malanoides tuberculata misspellingMelania ''tuberculata · alternate representationMelania rustica Mousson, 1857 junior subjective synonymMelania tuberculata · alternate representationMelania tuberculata var. flavida G. Nevill, 1885 junior subjective synonymMelania tuberculata var. luteomarginata G. Nevill, 1885 junior subjective synonym- †