Neothauma

This freshwater snail is only found in Lake Tanganyika, where it is the largest gastropod, and occurs in all four of the bordering countries — Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, and Zambia — although fossil shells have been discovered at Lake Edward and in the Lake Albert basin.[1]

The type locality is the East shore of Lake Tanganyika, at Ujiji.[4]

More archaic Neothauma species

Archaic Neothauma species

The genus Neothauma previously contained several species, but most were reassigned to other genera.[5]

The width of the shell is 46 mm (1.8 in).[4] The height of the shell is 60 mm (2.4 in).[4]

This species lives in depths of up to 65 m (213 ft).[4] There is conflicting information relating to its feeding behavior, with one study referring to it as a detritus-feeder,[6] another saying that it actively preys on endobenthic organisms,[7] and finally that it feeds on particulate organic filtered while the snail is buried.[8]

The shells of dead Neothauma tanganyicense often form carpets over large areas, and are used by a number of other animals, such as cichlid fish (shell dwellers),[9] and freshwater crabs of the genus Platythelphusa.[10] Juvenile snails live in the sediment in order to avoid predators.[4]