Bulinus nasutus facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Bulinus nasutus |
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Bulinus nasutus is a type of freshwater snail that lives in warm, wet places. It's an aquatic gastropod mollusk, which means it's a snail that lives in water and has a soft body inside a shell. This snail belongs to a family called Planorbidae, often known as ramshorn snails. Its shell is sinistral, meaning it coils to the left when you hold the tip pointing up.
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Where It Lives
Bulinus nasutus is found in East Africa. You can find these snails in three countries:
- Kenya
- Tanzania, including the islands of Zanzibar and Pemba Island
- Uganda
The first place where this snail was officially found and described by scientists is called its type locality. For Bulinus nasutus, this place is Bagamoyo, which is now part of Tanzania.
What It Looks Like
The shell of Bulinus nasutus can grow to about 12 mm wide and 25 mm tall. That's about the size of a small button or a large thumbnail.
How It Lives
Bulinus nasutus snails like to live in places where water collects, like temporary pools, ditches, and old burrow-pits. These snails are quite tough! They can survive in water that has a high amount of chloride, a type of salt. Scientists have found them in pools with very salty water in Tanzania.
Surviving Dry Times
When their pools dry up, Bulinus nasutus snails can go into a special resting state called aestivation. They bury themselves in the dry mud and can stay there for about 5 to 8 months. During this time, they breathe air, waiting for the water to return. They only come out of aestivation when the pool fills up with plenty of water again.
Life Cycle
These snails start laying eggs when they are about 8 weeks old. At this age, their shells are usually around 8 mm tall. They can keep laying eggs throughout their lives, especially after the main rainy season. To reach their full size, they often need to live for more than 12 months and go through one or two dry periods (aestivation).
Role in Nature
Bulinus nasutus can act as an intermediate host for certain tiny parasites. This means the parasites live inside the snail for a part of their life cycle. These parasites include:
- Schistosoma bovis
- Schistosoma haematobium - This is a very important one, as Bulinus nasutus is the main snail host for Schistosoma haematobium in parts of northwestern Tanzania.
- Echinostome species
