Melanoides polymorpha

{{Short description|Species of gastropod}}

{{Speciesbox

| image =

| status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1

| status_ref = {{cite iucn |author=Albrecht, C. |date=2018 |title=Melanoides polymorpha |volume=2018 |page=e.T134051244A134051258 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T134051244A134051258.en |access-date=15 November 2021}}

| taxon = Melanoides polymorpha

| authority = (E. A. Smith, 1877)Smith E. A. (1877). "On the shells of Lake Nyasa, and on a few marine species from Mozambique". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1877: [https://archive.org/stream/proceedingsofgen772zool#page/712/mode/2up 712]-722. Plates 74-75. [https://archive.org/stream/proceedingsofgen772zool#page/714/mode/2up page 714], [https://archive.org/stream/proceedingsofgen772zool#page/n424/mode/1up Plate 55], figure 4-10.

| synonyms_ref = Brown D. S. (1994). Freshwater Snails of Africa and their Medical Importance. Taylor & Francis. {{ISBN|0-7484-0026-5}}.

| synonyms =

  • Melania polymorpha E. A. Smith, 1877
  • Melania tanganyicensis E. A. Smith, 1880Smith E. A. (1880). "Diagnoses of new shells from Lake Tanganyika and East Africa". Annals and Magazine of Natural History (5)6: [https://archive.org/stream/annalsmagazineof561880lond#page/424/mode/2up 425]-430. [https://archive.org/stream/annalsmagazineof561880lond#page/426/mode/2up page 427]

}}

Melanoides polymorpha is a species of freshwater snail with a gill and an operculum, an aquatic gastropod mollusk in the family Thiaridae.

This species is endemic to Lake Malawi and is found in Malawi, Tanzania, and Mozambique. It is very abundant throughout the lake in the littoral soft sediments.

References