Neothauma

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title: "Neothauma" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["viviparidae", "gastropods-described-in-1880", "monotypic-gastropod-genera", "taxa-named-by-edgar-albert-smith", "taxonomy-articles-created-by-polbot", "snails-of-lake-tanganyika"] description: "Genus of gastropods" topic_path: "general/viviparidae" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neothauma" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Genus of gastropods ::

|image = Neothauma2.jpg |image_caption = shell of Neothauma tanganyicense |status = LC |status_system = IUCN3.1 |status_ref = |taxon = Neothauma |authority = E. A. Smith, 1880 |synonyms_ref = |synonyms = Viviparus (Neothauma) E. A. Smith, 1880 |type_species = Neothauma tanganyicense E. A. Smith, 1880 |display_parents= 3

***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.

Species

• Neothauma jouberti Bourguignat, 1888
• † Neothauma jupadwongaensis Musalizi, 2017
• Neothauma tanganyicense E. A. Smith, 1880 ;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 (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, where it is the largest gastropod, and occurs in all four of the bordering countries — Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, and Zambia — although fossil shells have been discovered at Lake Edward and in the Lake Albert basin.

The type locality is the East shore of Lake Tanganyika, at Ujiji. ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7b/Mollusks_of_the_genus_Neothauma.jpg" caption="More archaic Neothauma species"] ::

History

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/More_Mollusks_of_the_genus_Neothauma.jpg" caption="Archaic Neothauma species"] ::

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

Description

The width of the shell is 46 mm. The height of the shell is 60 mm.

Ecology

This species lives in depths of up to 65 m. There is conflicting information relating to its feeding behavior, with one study referring to it as a detritus-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 (shell dwellers), and freshwater crabs of the genus Platythelphusa. Juvenile snails live in the sediment in order to avoid predators.

References

References

1. Ngereza, C.. (2022). "''Neothauma tanganyicense''".
2. Smith E. A. (1880). "On the shells of Lake Tanganyika and of the neighbourhood of Ujiji, central Africa". ''Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London'' '''1880''': [https://archive.org/stream/proceedingsofgen80zool#page/344/mode/2up 344]-352. [https://archive.org/stream/proceedingsofgen80zool#page/348/mode/2up Page 349]. [https://archive.org/stream/proceedingsofgen80zool#page/352/mode/2up Plate 31].
3. "''Neothauma'' E. A. Smith, 1880".
4. [https://science.mnhn.fr/institution/mnhn/collection/im/item/2000-4619?listIndex=211&listCount=241 MNHN, Paris: syntype of Neothauma jouberti ]
5. Mita E. Sengupta. (2009). "Molecular phylogenetic investigations of the Viviparidae (Gastropoda: Caenogastropoda) in the lakes of the Rift Valley area of Africa". [[Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution]].
6. Brown D. S. (1994). ''Freshwater Snails of Africa and their Medical Importance''. [[Taylor & Francis]]. {{ISBN. 0-7484-0026-5.
7. Bourguignat, Jules René. (1888-01-01). "Iconographie malacologique des animaux mollusques fluviatiles du Lac Tanganika". Impr. Crété.
8. (2005). "Paleolimnological investigations of anthropogenic environmental change in Lake Tanganyika: IV. Lacustrine paleoecology". Journal of Paleolimnology.
9. (1998). "The late Cenozoic Viviparidae (Mollusca, Gastropoda) of the Albertine Rift Valley". Hydrobiologia.
10. (1991). "Morphology and behavior of crabs and gastropods from Lake Tanganyika, Africa: Implications for lacustrine predator-prey coevolution". Evolution.
11. Stephan Koblmüller. (2007). "Reticulate phylogeny of gastropod-shell-breeding cichlids from Lake Tanganyika — the result of repeated introgressive hybridization". [[BMC Evolutionary Biology]].
12. N. Cumberlidge. (1999). "A revision of the genus ''Platythelphusa'' A. Milne-Edwards, 1887 from Lake Tanganyika, East Africa (Decapoda: Potamoidea: Platythelphusidae)". [[Journal of Natural History]].

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