Melanopsis letourneuxi

Melanopsis letourneuxi is a species of freshwater gastropod[1] endemic to streams in coastal Morocco and Algeria.

Melanopsis letourneuxi
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Caenogastropoda
Superfamily: Cerithioideae
Family: Melanopsidae
Genus: Melanopsis
Species:
M. letourneuxi
Binomial name
Melanopsis letourneuxi

Distribution, ecology and threats

Melanopsis letourneuxi is found almost exclusively in relatively shallow medium-sized streams with stony substrates, rarely occurring in stagnant sources. The species had historically been reported from several localities in north Africa, including a site in Algeria or (disputedly) Morocco - "in the source and the river Moulouya, west of Maghnia"[1] from which it has not been documented recently- and two confirmed adjacent Moroccan sites -Berguent and Ras el Ain at Aïn Beni Mathar - in which it is exceedingly rare. Remaining populations are threatened by water abstraction, pollution, and shell-collecting.[2]

Populations

Historically, several varieties (excluding the nominal var.) had been identified by Pallary and Bourguignat, including:[3]

  • † Melanopsis letourneuxi var. semesa
  • Melanopsis letourneuxi var. magna (Berguent at Aïn Beni Mathar)*
  • Melanopsis letourneuxi var. minor (Ras el Aïn at Aïn Beni Mathar)*
  • Melanopsis letourneuxi var. emaciata (Berguent at Aïn Beni Mathar)
  • Melanopsis letourneuxi var. mattarica (Ras el Aïn at Aïn Beni Mathar)

† Denotes that the variety is not mentioned by the nomenclator of Neubauer 2016

*Denotes that the variety is considered invalid by the nomenclator of Neubauer 2016

References
  1. "WoRMS - World Register of Marine Species - Melanopsis letourneuxi Bourguignat, 1884". www.marinespecies.org. Retrieved 2019-10-20.
  2. "The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Retrieved 2019-10-20.
  3. Neubauer, Thomas (2016-07-05). "A nomenclator of extant and fossil taxa of the Melanopsidae (Gastropoda, Cerithioidea)". ZooKeys (602): 1–358. doi:10.3897/zookeys.602.8136. ISSN 1313-2970. PMC 4978033. PMID 27551193.
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