West African mud creeper facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Tympanotonos fuscatus |
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| Tympanotonos fuscatus var. radula | |
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | |
| Phylum: | |
| Class: | |
| (unranked): |
clade Caenogastropoda
clade Sorbeoconcha |
| Superfamily: |
Cerithioidea
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| Family: |
Potamididae
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| Genus: |
Tympanotonos
Schumacher, 1817
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| Species: |
T. fuscatus
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| Binomial name | |
| Tympanotonos fuscatus (Linnaeus, 1758)
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| Synonyms | |
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The West African mud creeper, officially known as Tympanotonos fuscatus, is a type of snail that lives in special watery places. It's a gastropod, which means it's a mollusk that moves on its belly, like other snails and slugs. This snail belongs to a group called Potamididae. Tympanotonos fuscatus is the only living species in its genus, Tympanotonos.
About This Snail
This snail has a shell that can grow to be about 3.5 to 10 centimeters long. That's like the length of a small to medium-sized pencil!
Where It Lives
You can find the West African mud creeper along the western coast of Africa. It lives in countries like Angola in the south, all the way up to Senegal in the north. It also calls the Cape Verde islands home.
This snail prefers to live in brackish water. This is water that is a mix of fresh water from rivers and salty water from the ocean. You often find brackish water in places like estuaries, which are where rivers meet the sea, or in coastal lagoons and mangrove swamps.
