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Radix natalensis

Species of gastropod

Summary

Species of gastropod

Radix natalensis is a species of freshwater snail, an aquatic gastropod mollusc in the family Lymnaeidae.

This species occurs widely in Africa. It is a major intermediate host for Fasciola gigantica in Africa. Placement of this species in the genus Radix was confirmed by Correa et al. (2010).

Distribution

Radix natalensis is a widespread species in Africa, occurring from northern Africa to southern Africa:

  • Northern Africa: Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Sudan. There are also findings of distribution of Radix natalensis in Algeria 8–10,000 years ago. In Egypt it has been detected in water bodies of the Nile Delta.
  • Western Africa: Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria
  • Eastern Africa: Burundi, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Somalia, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
  • Central Africa: Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.
  • Southern Africa: Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe.{{Cite journal
  • Madagascar

The type locality is in "pools in Port Natal", which today is Durban, South Africa.

Description

Radix natalensis was described by the German scientist and traveller Christian Ferdinand Friedrich Krauss in 1848.

The shape of the shell is elongate ovoid. The shell is colorless or light brown in color. The height of the aperture covers about 3/4 of the shell height. The lip of the aperture is thin and sharp. The umbilicus is closed. The width of the shell is about 5.75–7 mm. The height of the shell is 4.6–19.2 mm.

[[File:Radix natalensis shell 3.pngleftthumbupright=1.3Drawing of apertural and abapertural view of the shell of Radix natalensis from its original description by [[Christian Ferdinand Friedrich Krauss]] in 1848.]][[File:Radix natalensis shell 5.pngleftthumbDrawing of lateral view of the shell.]]

The reproductive system and radula was described by Wright (1963) in detail.

Ecology

Radix natalensis lives in permanent water bodies. They prefer clear, slow-running water with low salinity and abundant vegetation. An estimated density of Radix natalensis in a natural habitat in Tanzania was 34 snails per m². The snails lived mainly in the shallow water in depths of 0–4 cm, mainly between 20–30 cm from the shoreline. They prefer plant detritus or bedrock as a substrate.{{Cite journal | doi-access = free

Laboratory experiments have shown that some larger snails of Radix natalensis can survive on a wooden surface without water for up to 21 days. Some smaller snails of Radix natalensis have survived desiccation on a soil surface up to 60 days on "black" soil. Some smaller snails of Radix natalensis were able to survive for up to 90 days on soil among sedges (Cyperus) or in the "black" soil exposed to sun or in the soil with stones.

Parasites

This species has been found to be an intermediate host of both Fasciola hepatica and Fasciola gigantica. Overall, rates of snail infection vary between 10% and 40%. The highest infection rate was found to be in summer and this may be a factor responsible for lowering snail density in this season. Parasites of Radix natalensis include:

  • Fasciola hepatica{{Cite journal |doi-access = free |access-date = 11 July 2024 |archive-date = 10 December 2022 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20221210094946/https://www.parasite-journal.org/articles/parasite/pdf/2010/03/parasite2010173p251.pdf |url-status = live
  • Fasciola gigantica{{Cite journal
  • Trichobilharzia sp.{{Cite journal | doi-access = free
  • some cercaria from Echinostomatidae
  • some xiphidiocercaria from Plagiorchiidae
  • four trematode larvae in Zambia{{Cite journal

Predators of Radix natalensis include leeches Helobdella nilae and Alboglossiphonia conjugata.{{Cite journal

Snails of the non-indigenous species Marisa cornuarietis eliminated Radix natalensis and other two native snail species from a small pond in Tanzania in an experiment in 1982.{{Cite journal

Oil extract of the gum myrrh Commiphora myrrha has molluscicidal activity against Radix natalensis.{{Cite journal

Phylogeny

A cladogram shows the phylogenic relations of species in the genus Radix:

Synonyms

  • Limnaea (Biformiana) cameroni Bourguignat, 1890 (a junior synonym)
  • Limnaea (Biformiana) kynganica Bourguignat, 1890 (a junior synonym)
  • Limnaea (Biformiana) zanzibarica Bourguignat, 1890 (a junior synonym)
  • Limnaea (Limosiana) alexandrina Bourguignat, 1883 (a junior synonym)
  • Limnaea (Limosiana) alexandrina var. gracilis Bourguignat, 1883 (a junior synonym)
  • Limnaea (Raffrayana) raffrayi Bourguignat, 1883
  • Limnaea (Stagnaliana) caillaudi Bourguignat, 1883 (a junior synonym)
  • Limnaea acroxa Bourguignat, 1883 (a junior synonym)
  • Limnaea aethiopica Bourguignat, 1883 (a junior synonym)
  • Limnaea africana Bourguignat, 1883
  • Limnaea africana var. azaouadensis Germain, 1909 (a junior synonym)
  • Limnaea africana var. elata Germain, 1919 (a junior synonym)
  • Limnaea africana var. gouidimouniensis Germain, 1916 (basionym)
  • Limnaea africana var. kambaensis Germain, 1911 (a junior synonym)
  • Limnaea africana var. kouloaensis Germain, 1911 (a junior synonym)
  • Limnaea anceyana Preston, 1910 (a junior synonym)
  • Limnaea arabica E. A. Smith, 1894
  • Limnaea benguellensis Morelet, 1867 (original combination)
  • Limnaea bocageana Morelet, 1867 (a junior synonym)
  • Limnaea caillaudi Bourguignat, 1883(a junior synonym)
  • Limnaea chudeaui Germain, 1907 (a junior synonym)
  • Limnaea damarana O. Boettger, 1910 (junior subjective synonym)
  • Limnaea debaizei Bourguignat, 1887 (a junior synonym)
  • Limnaea electa E. A. Smith, 1882 (a junior synonym)
  • Limnaea elmeteitensis E.A. Smith, 1894 (a junior synonym)
  • Limnaea gravieri Bourguignat, 1885
  • Limnaea hovarum Tristram, 1863 (a junior synonym)
  • Limnaea humerosa E. von Martens, 1897 (a junior synonym)
  • Limnaea jouberti Bourguignat, 1888 (a junior synonym)
  • Limnaea kempi Preston, 1912 (junior synonym)
  • Limnaea laurenti Bourguignat, 1888 (a junior synonym)
  • Limnaea lavigeriana Bourguignat, 1888 (a junior synonym)
  • Limnaea natalensis F. Krauss, 1848 (superseded combination)
  • Limnaea nyansae E. von Martens, 1892 (a junior synonym)
  • Limnaea orophila Morelet, 1864 (junior synonym)
  • Limnaea suarezensis Dautzenberg, 1895 (a junior synonym)
  • Limnaea undussumae E. von Martens, 1897 (a junior synonym)
  • Limnaea undussumae var. courteti Germain, 1904 (a junior synonym)
  • Limnaea vignoni Germain, 1909 (a junior synonym)
  • Limnaeus auricularius var. ribeirensis Reibisch, 1865 (a junior synonym)
  • Limnaeus benguellensis Morelet, 1867 (a junior synonym)
  • Limnaeus bocageanus Morelet, 1867 (a junior synonym)
  • Limnaeus dakaensis Sturany, 1898
  • Limnaea perrieri Bourguignat, 1881
  • Limnaea raffrayi Bourguignat, 1883
  • Lymnaea vatonnei Bourguignat, 1868
  • Lymnaea (Radix) natalensis
  • Limnaeus natalensis Krauss, 1848
    • Limnaeus natalensis var. exsertus von Martens, 1866 (junior synonym)

References

This article incorporates CC-BY-3.0 text from the reference.

References

  1. (1967). "The freshwater molluscs of the Kruger National Park". [[Koedoe]].
  2. Albrecht, C.. (2018). "''Radix natalensis''".
  3. {{in lang. de. la [[Christian Ferdinand Friedrich Krauss. Krauss F.]] (1848). ''Die Sudafrikanischen Mollusken''. Ebnert & Seubert, Stuttgart, 140 pp, 6 plates. [https://archive.org/stream/diesdafrikanis00kra#page/85/mode/1up page 85], [https://archive.org/stream/diesdafrikanis00kra#page/n158/mode/1up plate 5], figure 15.
  4. (2014). "''Radix natalensis'': the effect of ''Fasciola hepatica'' infection on the reproductive activity of the snail". Parasite.
  5. (2010). "Bridging gaps in the molecular phylogeny of the Lymnaeidae (Gastropoda: Pulmonata), vectors of Fascioliasis". BMC Evolutionary Biology.
  6. and [[List of non-marine molluscs of Senegal. fr Sarr A., Kinzelbach R. & Diouf M. (2011, in press). "Diversité spécifique et écologie des mollusques continenatux de la basse vallée du Ferlo (Sénégal). [Specific diversity and ecology of continental molluscs from the Lower Ferlo Valley (Senegal)]". ''MalaCo'' '''7''': 8 pp. [http://www.journal-malaco.fr/documents/MS52_sarretal_souspresse.pdf PDF] {{webarchive. link. (2 October 2011 .)
  7. (2000). "Molecular characterization of the freshwater snail ''Lymnaea natalensis'' (Gastropoda: Lymnaeidae) on Madagascar with an observation of an unusual polymorphism in ribosomal small subunit genes". Journal of Zoology.
  8. Wright C. A. (1963). "The freshwater gastropod mollusca of Angola". ''[[Bulletin of the British Museum]] (Natural History)'' '''10'''(8): 447–528. 16 plates. [https://archive.org/stream/bulletinofbritis10zoollond#page/492/mode/2up page 493].
  9. (2008). "Epidemiological review of human and animal fascioliasis in Egypt". The Journal of Infection in Developing Countries.
  10. {{in lang. fr [[Jules René Bourguignat. Bourguignat J. R.]] (1883). "Histoire malacogie de l'abyssinie". ''[[Annales Des Sciences Naturelles]] (Zoologie)'' (6)'''15''': [http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k5518199f/f54 1] {{Webarchive. link. (11 July 2024 -162. [http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k5518199f/f142 89] {{Webarchive). link. (11 July 2024 , [http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k5518199f/f382 Plate 10] {{Webarchive). link. (11 July 2024 , figs. 100–101.)
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lymnaeidae gastropods-of-africa gastropods-described-in-1848 taxa-named-by-christian-ferdinand-friedrich-krauss
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