# Neothauma
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{{Short description|Genus of gastropods}}
{{Automatic taxobox
|image = Neothauma2.jpg
|image_caption = shell of ''Neothauma tanganyicense''
|status = LC
|status_system = IUCN3.1
|status_ref = [{{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}}]
|taxon = Neothauma
|authority = [E. A. Smith](/source/Edgar_Albert_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].]
|synonyms_ref =
|synonyms = ''Viviparus (Neothauma)'' E. A. Smith, 1880
|type_species = ''Neothauma tanganyicense'' E. A. Smith, 1880
|display_parents= 3
}}
'''''Neothauma ''''' is a [genus](/source/genus) of [freshwater snail](/source/freshwater_snail) with a [gill](/source/gill) and an [operculum](/source/operculum_(gastropod)), an [aquatic](/source/aquatic_animal) [gastropod](/source/gastropod) [mollusc](/source/Mollusca) in the subfamily [Bellamyinae](/source/Bellamyinae) of the [family](/source/Family_(taxonomy)) [Viviparidae](/source/Viviparidae).[{{cite WoRMS |title= ''Neothauma'' E. A. Smith, 1880|id=994450|access-date=2021-09-19|db=Mollusca}}]
==Species==
* ''[Neothauma jouberti](/source/Neothauma_jouberti)'' Bourguignat, 1888[[https://science.mnhn.fr/institution/mnhn/collection/im/item/2000-4619?listIndex=211&listCount=241 MNHN, Paris: syntype of Neothauma jouberti ]]
* † ''[Neothauma jupadwongaensis](/source/Neothauma_jupadwongaensis)'' Musalizi, 2017
* ''[Neothauma tanganyicense](/source/Neothauma_tanganyicense)'' E. A. Smith, 1880[{{cite journal |journal=[Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution](/source/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}}][Brown D. S. (1994). ''Freshwater Snails of Africa and their Medical Importance''. [Taylor & Francis](/source/Taylor_%26_Francis). {{ISBN|0-7484-0026-5}}.]
;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](/source/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](/source/Lake_Tanganyika), where it is the largest gastropod, and occurs in all four of the bordering countries — [Burundi](/source/Burundi), the [Democratic Republic of the Congo](/source/Democratic_Republic_of_the_Congo), [Tanzania](/source/List_of_non-marine_molluscs_of_Tanzania), and [Zambia](/source/Zambia) — although [fossil](/source/fossil) shells have been discovered at [Lake Edward](/source/Lake_Edward) and in the [Lake Albert](/source/Lake_Albert_(Africa)) basin.[{{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}}]
== Description ==
The width of the [shell](/source/gastropod_shell) is {{convert|46|mm|in|abbr=on}}.[{{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 }}] another saying that it actively preys on [endobenthic](/source/wiktionary%3Aendobenthic) organisms,[{{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 }}] and finally that it feeds on particulate organic filtered while the snail is buried.[{{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 }}]
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](/source/cichlid) ([shell dwellers](/source/shell_dwellers)),[{{cite journal |journal=[BMC Evolutionary Biology](/source/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 }}] and [freshwater crab](/source/freshwater_crab)s of the genus ''[Platythelphusa](/source/Platythelphusa)''.[{{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](/source/Journal_of_Natural_History) |volume=33 |issue=10 |pages=1487–1512 |citeseerx=10.1.1.654.5532 }}] Juvenile snails live in the sediment in order to avoid predators.