Species IUCN · Least Concern (LC)

Red-Rimmed Melania

Melanoides tuberculata, (O. F. Müller, 1774)

freshwater

About Red-Rimmed Melania

The red-rimmed melania (Melanoides tuberculata), also known as the Malayan livebearing snail or Malayan/Malaysian trumpet snail (often abbreviated to MTS by aquarists), 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.

Appearance

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 (Kinnereth).

The average shell length is about 20–27 millimetres (3⁄4–1+1⁄8 in) or 30–36 millimetres (1+1⁄8–1+3⁄8 in), but exceptional specimens may be up to 80 millimetres (3+1⁄8 in) long. Shells of this species have 10–15 whorls.

Habitat

This species is speculated to be native to subtropical and tropical Africa (excluding West Africa), Indo-Pacific region, and South Asia, as well as the Arabian Peninsula, or to northern Africa and southern Asia.

Algeria, Burundi, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Libya, Malawi, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger,

South Africa (Eastern Cape Province, Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo Province)

Botswana, Eswatini, Senegal, Sudan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Zimbabwe.

Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India (including Andaman Islands), Israel, Japan, Taiwan, Laos, Malaysia (Peninsular Malaysia), Nepal, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Vietnam

Prehistoric localities include Gobero in Niger in 6200–5200 BCE.

Where to see it

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