Bulinus

Bulinus
A live individual of Bulinus wrighti
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
(unranked): clade Heterobranchia
clade Euthyneura
clade Panpulmonata
clade Hygrophila
Superfamily: Planorboidea
Family: Planorbidae
Subfamily: Bulininae
Tribe: Bulinini
Genus: Bulinus
O. F. Müller, 1781[1]
Diversity[2]
37 species

Bulinus is a genus of small tropical freshwater snails, aquatic gastropod mollusks in the family Planorbidae, the ramshorn snails and their allies.

This genus is medically important because several species of Bulinus function as intermediate hosts for the schistosomiasis blood fluke.[3]

Shell description

The shell of species in the genus Bulinus is sinistral. It has a very large body whorl and a small spire.

Distribution

These snails are widespread in Africa including Madagascar[4] and the Middle East.[5]

This genus has not yet become established in the USA, but it is considered to represent a potentially serious threat as a pest, an invasive species which could negatively affect agriculture, natural ecosystems, human health or commerce. Therefore it has been suggested that this species be given top national quarantine significance in the USA.[6]

Species

Lateral view of a shell of Bulinus truncatus.

Species within the genus Bulinus have been placed into four species groups: the Bulinus africanus group, Bulinus forskalii group, Bulinus reticulatus group and the Bulinus truncatus/tropicus complex.[3] For the most part, species have been classified on the basis of their morphology although, in recent decades, the study of ploidy, allozymes and DNA methods have all played an increasing role in species discrimination.[3] Morphological characters, whilst adequate to allocate a specimen to a species group are sometimes unreliable when used to classify at higher resolution especially within the Bulinus africanus group.[3]

There are 37[2] (or 38 species when the Bulinus mutandensis is recognized as a separate species) species within the genus Bulinus including:

Bulinus africanus group - 10 species

Bulinus forskalii group - 11 species

Bulinus reticulatus group - 2 species

Bulinus truncatus/tropicus complex - 14-15 species

References

This article incorporates CC-BY-2.5 text from the reference[3]

  1. ↑ Müller O. F. 1781. Geschichte der Perlen-Blasen. Der Naturforscher 15: 1-20, Tab. I [= 1]. Halle.
  2. 1 2 Characterisation of Bulinus. Accessed 31 December 2008.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Kane, R. A.; Stothard, J. R.; Emery, A. M.; Rollinson, D. (2008). "Molecular characterization of freshwater snails in the genus Bulinus: A role for barcodes?". Parasites & Vectors 1: 15. doi:10.1186/1756-3305-1-15.
  4. ↑ Stothard, J. R.; Brémond, P.; Andriamaro, L.; Sellin, B.; Sellin, E.; Rollinson, D. (2001). "Bulinus species on Madagascar: Molecular evolution, genetic markers and compatibility with Schistosoma haematobium". Parasitology. 123 Suppl (7): S261–S275. doi:10.1017/s003118200100806x. PMID 11769288.
  5. ↑ Jørgensen, A.; Jørgensen, L. V. G.; Kristensen, T. K.; Madsen, H.; Stothard, J. R. (2007). "Molecular phylogenetic investigations of Bulinus (Gastropoda: Planorbidae) in Lake Malawi with comments on the topological incongruence between DNA loci". Zoologica Scripta 36 (6): 577. doi:10.1111/j.1463-6409.2007.00298.x.
  6. ↑ Cowie R. H., Dillon R. T., Robinson D. G. & Smith J. W. (2009). "Alien non-marine snails and slugs of priority quarantine importance in the United States: A preliminary risk assessment". American Malacological Bulletin 27: 113-132. PDF.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 Brown D. S. (1994). Freshwater Snails of Africa and their Medical Importance. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 0-7484-0026-5
  8. ↑ Brown D. S. (1996). Bulinus canescens. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 6 August 2007.
  9. ↑ Appleton C., Lange C. N., Kristensen T. K., Stensgaard A-S. & Van Damme D. (2009). Bulinus reticulatus. In: IUCN 2010. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2010.4. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 3 December 2010.
  10. ↑ Kyambadde R. (2004). Bulinus mutandensis. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 6 August 2007.
  11. ↑ Curtis B., Jørgensen A., Kristensen T. K., Stensgaard A-S. & Van Damme D. (2009). Bulinus natalensis. In: IUCN 2010. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2010.4. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 3 December 2010.

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