Madagasikara spinosa facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Madagasikara spinosa
Madagasikara spinosa
Conservation status
Near Threatened (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
(unranked):	clade Caenogastropoda clade Sorbeoconcha
Superfamily:	Cerithioidea
Family:	Pachychilidae
Genus:	Madagasikara
Species:	M. spinosa
Binomial name
Madagasikara spinosa (Lamarck, 1822)
Synonyms
Pirena spinosa Lamarck, 1822 Melanopsis spinosa Pirena (Melanatria) spinosa Melanatria fluminea (Gmelin, 1791) Melanatria spinosa Melanopsis lamarckii Potiez & Michaud, 1838 Pirena lamarckii Pirena fluminea Reeve, 1859 Melanatria fluminea Pirena maura Reeve, 1859 Pirena lingulata Reeve, 1859 Pirena aspera Brot, 1862 Melanatria goudotiana Brot, 1879 in Brot, 1874-79

Madagasikara spinosa is a species of tropical freshwater snail with a gill and an operculum, an aquatic gastropod mollusc in the family Pachychilidae.

Madagasikara spinosa is the type species of the genus Madagasikara.

Distribution

This species is endemic to Madagascar. It was recorded in East Madagascar and in surrounding islands such as Île Sainte-Marie.

The type locality is "Dans le rivières de l’ile de Madagascar", in rivers of Madagascar.

Description

Shells of Madagasikara spinosa.

The shell is elongate and large and it has 5.0-11.0 whorls. The color of the shell is from brown to black. The apex is truncated. There are axial ribs especially on upper whorls. The aperture is widely oval with palatal and basal sinus.

The width of the shell is 9.9-28.3 mm. The height of the shell is 25.2-69.5 mm. The width of the aperture is 5.0-18.4 mm. The height of the aperture is 8.0-23.1 mm.

The operculum is oval and black.

The color of the animal is dark grey to black with yellowish dots. Tentacles are quite long. Radula is taeniglossate. Radula is about 16 mm long with about 127 rows of teeth.

Ecology

It lives in fast running streams.

Sexes are separate (gonochorism). Females lays eggs (oviparous).