Tomichia cawstoni

Tomichia cawstoni is a species of very small freshwater snails which have a gill and an operculum, gastropod mollusks or micromollusks in the family Pomatiopsidae.

Tomichia cawstoni
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Mollusca
Class:
Gastropoda
Order:
Littorinimorpha
(unranked):
clade Caenogastropoda
clade Hypsogastropoda
clade Littorinimorpha
Superfamily:
Rissooidea
Family:
Pomatiopsidae
Subfamily:
Pomatiopsinae
Genus:
Tomichia
Species:
T. cawstoni
Binomial name
Tomichia cawstoni
Connolly, 1939

Distribution

This species is endemic to South Africa.[1] The type locality is Kokstad, KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa.[2]

Description

The width of the shell is 2.5 mm.; the height of the shell is 4.6 mm. Spire short, and flat sided. Whorls weakly convex.[2]

Ecology

The natural habitat for this species is rivers in riverine forests, predominantly of freshwater in contrast to other species which inhabit ephemeral streams and rivers.[1][3]

Threats

Species of the genus Tomichia are particularly susceptible to changes in their ecosystem, and thus species such as Tomichia cawstoni are greatly threatened by pollution and climatic changes (especially in the form of changes in rain cycles). In Kokstad, it is threatened by pollution and trampling from commercial cattle farming operations. All suitable locations for this species' inhabitance have since been found destroyed, restricting the species to the type locality.

References
  1. Kristensen T. K., Stensgaard A-S. & Appleton C. (2007). Tomichia cawstoni. In: IUCN 2010. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2010.4. www.iucnredlist.org. Downloaded on 30 May 2011.
  2. Brown D. S. (1994). Freshwater Snails of Africa and their Medical Importance. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 0-7484-0026-5.
  3. Brooks, E. G. E.; Allen, David James; Darwall, W. R. T. (2011). The Status and Distribution of Freshwater Biodiversity in Central Africa. IUCN. ISBN 9782831713267.
  • Davis G. M. (1981). "Different modes of evolution and adaptive radiation in the Pomatiopsidae (Prosobranchia: Mesogastropoda)". Malacologia 21: 209-262.
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