Tag Archives: Melanopsidae

Melanopsis germaini Pallary

Germain’s Melanopsis Spring Snail (Melanopsis germaini)

Germain’s Melanopsis Spring Snail was described in 1939; the species is known only from its type localities: the small rivers Nahr as Sinnah and Nahr az Zayrūd between the cities of Baniyas and Jableh on the Syrian coast to the Mediterranean Sea. [1]

Only the lower parts of these rivers still contain water, which is heavily polluted, thus the snail’s habitat appears to be lost now.

Germain’s Melanopsis Spring Snail was last recorded in 1955, it is now probably extinct.

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References:

[1] Joseph Heller; Peter Mordan; Frida Ben-Ami; Naomi Sivan: Conchometrics, systematics and distribution of Melanopsis (Mollusca: Gastropoda) in the Levant. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 144: 229-260. 2005

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edited: 17.11.2021

Melanopsis infracincta Martens

Thick-shelled Melanopsis Spring Snail (Melanopsis infracincta)

The Thick-shelled Melanopsis Spring Snail was described in 1874; the species is only known from the headwaters of karstic spring complexes of two tributaries of the Euphrates River in north-eastern Syria along the Syrian-Turkish border (near the village of Ain al-Arous as well as near the cities of Ra’s al-‘Ain and Tell Abyad). [1]

The species has not found since the 1940s and is believed to be extinct.

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References:

[1] Joseph Heller; Peter Mordan; Frida Ben-Ami; Naomi Sivan: Conchometrics, systematics and distribution of Melanopsis (Mollusca: Gastropoda) in the Levant.

Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 144: 229-260. 2005

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Depiction from: ‘E. A. Rossmässler, fortgesetzt on Dr. W. Kobelt: Iconographie der Land- und Süsswasser-Mollusken, mit vorzüglicher Berücksichtigung der europäischen noch nicht abgebildeten Artenm. 4. Wiesbaden. C. W. Kreidel’s Verlag 1876′

(public domain)

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edited: 17.11.2021

Melanopsis khabourensis Pallary

Khabour Spring Snail (Melanopsis khabourensis)

 

This species was described in 1939; it was found near the city of Ra’s al-‘Ain in a series of karst springs in northern Syria that form the main spring of the Khabour River, which again is a tributary of the Euphrates River. [1]

The water situation in the region is dramatic and the type locality has fallen dry; in fact, the snail species was never found again since its description and is quite certainly extinct.

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References:

[1] Joseph Heller; Peter Mordan; Frida Ben-Ami; Naomi Sivan: Conchometrics, systematics and distribution of Melanopsis (Mollusca: Gastropoda) in the Levant. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 144: 229-260. 2005

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edited: 17.11.2021

Microcolpia parreyssii (Philippi)

Lake Petea Snail (Microcolpia parreyssii)

 

The Lake Petea Snail is one of the few species

in which we can trace the exact course of their extinction.

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The species was described in 1847, it was restricted to a single relict site, Lake Pețea, a thermal lake with a water temperature of around 42 °C near the town of Oradea in north-western Romania.

The lake is situated above a rich geothermal aquifer, which is known since ancient times, the thermal water has been used to heat a public bath and several houses in the area. It is home to several endemic plant- and animal forms and was declared a nature reserve in 1932. With the beginning of the 2000s the site was found to be heavily polluted with litter; in 2011, the thermal underwater spring suddenly ceased its activity, resulting in an abrupt reduction of the water level and the surface area and in 2015, the lake was reduced to a small pond due to the overexploitation of the thermal aquifer.

In an effort to save the Lake Petea Snail from extinction, several individuals were brought into captivity; in the beginning these individuals reproduced but after some time they began to suffer from a high mortality, and the last surviving snails were finally sent to specialists, but without any success – the species is now extinct. [1]

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References:

[1] Ioan Sîrbu; Adrian Gagiu; Ana Maria Benedek: On the brink of extinction: Fate of the Pețea thermal lake (Romania) and its endemic species. Tentacle 21: 34-37. 2013
[2] Thomas A. Neubauer; Mathias Harzhauser; Elisavet Georgopoulou; Claudia Wrozyna: Population bottleneck triggering millenial-scale morphospace shifts in endemic thermal-spring melanopsis. Paleogeography, Paleoclimatology, Paleoecology 414: 116-128. 2014
[3] Ioan Sîrbu; Ana Maria Benedek: Requiem for Melanopsis parreyssii or the anatomy of a new extinction in Romania. Tentacle 24: 26-28. 2016

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Photo from: ‘Thomas A. Neubauer; Mathias Harzhauser; Elisavet Georgopoulou; Claudia Wrozyna: Population bottleneck triggering millenial-scale morphospace shifts in endemic thermal-spring melanopsis. Paleogeography, Paleoclimatology, Paleoecology 414: 116-128. 2014’

(under creative commons license (3.0))
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

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edited: 17.11.2021

Melanopsis pachya Pallary

Daraa Spring Snail (Melanopsis pachya)

This species was described in 1939; it is known only from its type locality, a small spring near the city of Daraa in southern Syria at the border to the kingdom of Jordan.

The species was apparently not found during recent surveys and is believed to be extinct.

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References:

[1] Joseph Heller; Peter Mordan; Frida Ben-Ami; Naomi Sivan: Conchometrics, systematics and distribution of Melanopsis (Mollusca: Gastropoda) in the Levant. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 144: 229-260. 2005

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edited: 17.11.2021