{{Short description|Genus of gastropods}} {{Automatic taxobox |image = Neothauma2.jpg |image_caption = shell of ''Neothauma tanganyicense'' |status = LC |status_system = IUCN3.1 |status_ref = <ref name="IUCN">{{cite iucn |author=Ngereza, C. |author2=Van Damme, D. |year=2022 |title=''Neothauma tanganyicense'' |volume=2022 |article-number=e.T14569A191305438 |doi= |access-date=29 January 2026}}</ref> |taxon = Neothauma |authority = E. A. Smith, 1880<ref name="Smith 1880">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].</ref> |synonyms_ref = |synonyms = ''Viviparus (Neothauma)'' <small>E. A. Smith, 1880</small> |type_species = ''Neothauma tanganyicense'' <small>E. A. Smith, 1880</small> |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.<ref name="WoRMS">{{cite WoRMS |title= ''Neothauma'' E. A. Smith, 1880|id=994450|access-date=2021-09-19|db=Mollusca}}</ref>
==Species== * ''Neothauma jouberti'' <small>Bourguignat, 1888</small><ref>[https://science.mnhn.fr/institution/mnhn/collection/im/item/2000-4619?listIndex=211&listCount=241 MNHN, Paris: syntype of Neothauma jouberti ]</ref> * † ''Neothauma jupadwongaensis'' <small>Musalizi, 2017</small> * ''Neothauma tanganyicense'' <small>E. A. Smith, 1880</small><ref>{{cite journal |journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution |volume=52 |issue=3 |year=2009 |pages=797–805 |doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2009.05.007 |title=Molecular phylogenetic investigations of the Viviparidae (Gastropoda: Caenogastropoda) in the lakes of the Rift Valley area of Africa |author=Mita E. Sengupta |author2=Thomas K. Kristensen |author3=Henry Madsen |author4=Aslak Jørgensen |name-list-style=amp |pmid=19435609}}</ref><ref name="Brown 1994">Brown D. S. (1994). ''Freshwater Snails of Africa and their Medical Importance''. Taylor & Francis. {{ISBN|0-7484-0026-5}}.</ref> ;Taxa inquirenda: * ''Neothauma bridouxianum'' <small>Grandidier, 1885</small> * ''Neothauma servainianum'' <small>Grandidier, 1885</small> ;Species brought into synonymy: * ''Neothauma bicarinatum'' <small>Bourguignat, 1885</small>: synonym of ''Neothauma tanganyicense var. bicarinatum'' <small>Bourguignat, 1885</small> * ''Neothauma ecclesi'' <small>Pain & Crowley, 1964</small>: synonym of ''Bellamya ecclesi'' <small>(Crowley & Pain, 1964)</small> (original combination) * ''Neothauma giraudi'' <small>Bourguignat, 1885</small>: synonym of ''Neothauma tanganyicense'' <small>E. A. Smith, 1880</small> (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.<ref name="IUCN"/>
The type locality is the East shore of Lake Tanganyika, at Ujiji.<ref name="Brown 1994"/> thumb|More archaic Neothauma species
== History == thumb|Archaic Neothauma species The genus ''Neothauma'' previously contained several species, but most were reassigned to other genera.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Iconographie malacologique des animaux mollusques fluviatiles du Lac Tanganika|url = https://archive.org/details/iconographiemala00bour|publisher = Impr. Crété|date = 1888-01-01|language = fr|first = Jules René|last = Bourguignat}}</ref>
== Description == The width of the shell is {{convert|46|mm|in|abbr=on}}.<ref name="Brown 1994"/> The height of the shell is {{convert|60|mm|in|abbr=on}}.<ref name="Brown 1994"/>
== Ecology == This species lives in depths of up to {{convert|65|m|ft|abbr=on}}.<ref name="Brown 1994"/> There is conflicting information relating to its feeding behavior, with one study referring to it as a detritus-feeder,<ref name=PalaciosFest2005>{{cite journal| author1=Palacios-Fest, M.R. | author2=S.R. Alin | author3=A.S. Cohen | author4=B. Tanner | author5=H. Heuser | year=2005 | title=Paleolimnological investigations of anthropogenic environmental change in Lake Tanganyika: IV. Lacustrine paleoecology | journal=Journal of Paleolimnology | volume=34 | pages=51–71 | doi=10.1007/s10933-005-2397-1 | citeseerx=10.1.1.489.2218 }}</ref> another saying that it actively preys on endobenthic organisms,<ref>{{cite journal| author1=Van Damme, D. | author2=Pickford, M. | year=1998 | title=The late Cenozoic Viviparidae (Mollusca, Gastropoda) of the Albertine Rift Valley | journal=Hydrobiologia | volume=390 | issue=1 | pages=171–217 | doi=10.1023/A:1003518218109 }}</ref> and finally that it feeds on particulate organic filtered while the snail is buried.<ref>{{cite journal| author1=West, K. | author2=Cohen, A. | author3=Baron, M. | year=1991 | title=Morphology and behavior of crabs and gastropods from Lake Tanganyika, Africa: Implications for lacustrine predator-prey coevolution | journal=Evolution | volume=45 | issue=3 | pages=589–607 | doi=10.1111/j.1558-5646.1991.tb04331.x | pmid=28568834 | doi-access=free }}</ref>
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),<ref>{{cite journal |journal=BMC Evolutionary Biology |year=2007 |volume=7 |page=7 |doi=10.1186/1471-2148-7-7 |title=Reticulate phylogeny of gastropod-shell-breeding cichlids from Lake Tanganyika — the result of repeated introgressive hybridization |author=Stephan Koblmüller |author2=Nina Duftner |author3=Kristina M Sefc |author4=Mitsuto Aibara |author5=Martina Stipacek |author6=Michel Blanc |author7=Bernd Egger |author8=Christian Sturmbauer |name-list-style=amp |pmc=1790888 |pmid=17254340 |doi-access=free }}</ref> and freshwater crabs of the genus ''Platythelphusa''.<ref name="Cumberlidge">{{cite journal |doi=10.1080/002229399299860 |author=N. Cumberlidge |author2=R. von Sternberg |author3=I. R. Bills |author4=H. Martin |name-list-style=amp |year=1999 |title=A revision of the genus ''Platythelphusa'' A. Milne-Edwards, 1887 from Lake Tanganyika, East Africa (Decapoda: Potamoidea: Platythelphusidae) |journal=Journal of Natural History |volume=33 |issue=10 |pages=1487–1512 |citeseerx=10.1.1.654.5532 }}</ref> Juvenile snails live in the sediment in order to avoid predators.<ref name="Brown 1994"/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{Commonscatinline}} *[https://archive.org/stream/histoiremalacolo00bour/histoiremalacolo00bour_djvu.txt Bourguignat (1890), "Histoire malacologique du Lac Tanganika (Afrique equaltoriale)"]
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Category:Viviparidae Category:Gastropods described in 1880 Category:Monotypic gastropod genera Category:Taxa named by Edgar Albert Smith Category:Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Category:Snails of Lake Tanganyika