The non-marine molluscs of Venezuela are a part of the molluscan fauna of Venezuela (which is part of the wildlife of Venezuela). Non-marine molluscs are the snails, clams, and mussels that live in freshwater habitats, and the snails and slugs that live on land. Sea-dwelling molluscs are not included in this list.
A number of species of non-marine molluscs are found in the wild in Venezuela.
Historical background
Studies on the knowledge of the Venezuelan malacofauna begin in the nineteenth century with the work of German malacologist Eduard von Martens around 1873 who published the first list of the mollusks Venezuela.Martens, E. von. 1873: die Binnenmollusken Venezuelas. Festschrift sue feier des 100 jaehr.Bestehens der Gesell. Naturf. Freunde zu Berlin. Three years later, the German-Venezuelan Adolfo Ernst, taking as its starting point and extending Martens' list, published a second list in 1876.Ernst, Adolf. 1876: Enumeración sistemática de las especies de moluscos terrestres y de agua dulce hallas hasta ahora en los alrededores de Caracas y demás partes de la república. Apuntes estadísticos del Distrito Federal. Caracas pp:77–85 Subsequent to these two pioneering nineteenth century works, only sporadic descriptions were published in foreign publications. It took about half a century for new listings of malacofauna of Venezuela to be published, this time by American H. B. Baker in the mid-1920s.Baker, Hocece B. 1923: The mollusca collected by the University of Michigan Williamson Expedition in Venezuela. Occasional Paper of the Museum of ZoologyBaker, Horace B. 1925: The mollusca collected by the University of Michigan Williamson Expedition in Venezuela
Following Baker's work is beginning to make as many Venezuelan species descriptions and numerous national and regional listings, including: Adolfo Lutz, who in 1928 listed and made observations on malacofauna of Valencia Lake and surrounding areas;Lutz, Adolfo 1928: Estudios de zoología y parasicología venezolana. Río de Janeiro. H. Richards, G. Hummelinck, & P. W. Malacofauna 1940 describing the island of Margarita; Arias in 1952 and 1953, in which he describes the fauna of the regions of Baruta, El Hatillo and Perija region; Thompson, who in 1957 described the shellfish of National Park Henri Pittier and surrounding areas;Thompson, Fred G. 1957: A collection of mollusks from Northern Venezuela. Occasional Papers of the Museum of Zoology University of Michigan, 591:1–13 Martinez and Miranda in 1968 who described pulmonate molluscs of Caracas and surrounding areas; Fernández in 1982, who describes sitecueros of slugs and Venezuela; Martinez et al. in 2004 who described freshwater bivalve fauna of Venezuela ; and Lasso and collaborators in 2009, who described the fauna of the basin of the Orinoco.
Diversity
The non-marine molluscs of Venezuela are composed of classes Gastropoda and Bivalvia.
The freshwater gastropod families with the greatest number of species are Ampullariidae (35 spp.) and Planorbidae (15 spp.). Terrestrial gastropod families include Ortalicidae (35 spp.) and Subulinidae (16 spp.).
Among the bivalve families with the most species are Mycetopodidade (17 spp.) and Hyriidae (10 spp.)
Regarding introduced species, the largest number of species is between terrestrial mollusks, primarily on families Subulinidae (6 spp.), Limacidae (4 spp.), and Helicidae (3 spp.)Pérez, Julio E., Alfonsi, Carmen., Salazar, Sinatra K., Macsotay, Oliver., Barrios, Jorge. & Martínez Escarbassiere, Rafael. 2007: Especies marinas exóticas y criptogénicas en las costas de Venezuela. Boletín del Instituto Oceanográfico de Venezuela. 46 (1): 79–96.PDF
Distribution
The Venezuelan non-marine malacofauna are distributed throughout the entire Venezuelan territory, but the greatest number of species and greatest distribution has been reported for the river basin Orinoco. The vast majority of species live in calm water, pipes, or flooded rivers and lakes. Many of the species have local distributions such as slugs and seven of leathers that often live primarily in the areas of cultivation in the north and the Andean region, However, very widely distributed species that can be located throughout the country as in the case of molluscs Ampullariidae amphibians and within the family which include Marisa cornuarietis,Catalogo de la colección de Moluscos del Museo de Biología de la Universidad Central (MBUCV-XIV) Pomacea urceus (Guarura), Pomacea glauca, Pomacea dolioides. Among the highlights is Megalobulimus oblongus (Guacara).
In relation to introduced species is noteworthy that some of it was spread widely by middle natural environment among them are: Achatina fulica (Giant African Snail), Arion subfuscus Subulina octona, and Thiara granifera Melanoides tuberculata.
List of non-marine molluscs of Venezuela The list of non-marine molluscs of Venezuela consists of: Freshwater gastropods: 9 families, 19 genera, 82 species. Terrestrial gastropods: 26 families, 58 genera, 116 species. Freshwater bivalves: 5 families, 11 genera, 31 species.
In total, 30 families, 88 genera, and 229 species are listed.
Freshwater gastropods
Freshwater gastropods include:
Family Ampullariidae Asolene crassa (Swainson, 1823)Simone, L. R. L. 2006: Land and freshwater mollusca of Brazil. EEB, FAPESP, Sao Paulo. 390pp Marisa cornuarietis (Linnaeus, 1758)Baker, Horace B. 1930: The mollusca collected by the University of Michigan – Williamson expedition in Venezuela. Occasional Paper of the Museum of zoology. 210:1–95 PDF - Colombian ramshorn apple snail Pomacea amazonica (Revee, 1856) - island apple snail Pomacea aurostoma (Lea, 1856) Pomacea avellana (Sowerby, 1909) Pomacea bridgesii (Reeve, 1856) - spike-topped apple snail (introduced species)Ojasti, Juhani., González Jiménez, Eduardo, Szeplaki Otahola, Eduardo. y García Román, Luis B. 2001: Informe sobre las especies exótica en Venezuela. Ministerio del Ambiente y de los Recursos Naturales Caracas. 207p. Pomacea camena (Pain, 1956)Pain, Thomas. 1956: Pomacea of the Sierra de Merida, Venezuela. Journal of Conchology 24(5):175-176 Pomacea canaliculata (Lamarck, 1819) - golden apple snail (introduced species) Pomacea chemnitzii (Philippi, 1887) Pomacea cingulata (Philippi, 1851)Köhler, F. & Glaubrecht, M. 2006: The types of Ampullariidae Gray, 1824 (Mollusca, Gastropoda) in the Malacological Collection of the Natural History Museum, Berlin: an annotated catalogue with lectotype designations. Mitteilungen aus dem Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, Zoologische Reihe 82: 201–218. Pomacea crassa (Swainson, 1823) Pomacea dolioides (Revee, 1856)Martínez E, Rafael. y López S, Beatriz. 1997: Pomacea dolioides un molusco de los Llanos. Natura 107:59–60 Pomacea eximia (Dunker, 1853) Pomacea falconensis Pain y Arias, 1958Pain, Thomas. y Sergio Arias C. 1958: Descripción de una especie nueva de Pomacea de Venezuela. Museo de Historia Natural La Salle. Serie. Zoología. No 24. Pomacea glauca (Linnaeus, 1758) Pomacea glauca crocostoma (Philippi, 1852) Pomacea glauca gevesensis (Deshayes, 1801) Pomacea glauca luteostoma (Swainson, 1822 ) Pomacea glauca orinocensis (Troschel, 1848) Pomacea haustrum (Revee, 1856) - titan apple snail Pomacea interrupta (Sowerby, 1909) Pomacea lineata (Spix, 1827) Pomacea minuscula Baker 1930 Pomacea nobilis (Revee, 1856) Pomacea oblonga (Swainson, 1823) Pomacea papyracea (Spix, 1827) Pomacea patula (Revee, 1856) Pomacea semitecta (Mousson, 1873) Pomacea superba (Marshall, 1928) Pomacea swainsoni (Revee, 1856) Pomacea tamsiana (Philippi, 1852) Pomacea urceus (Müller, 1774)Martínez E, Rafael. 1972: Observaciones sobre la reproducción de la Guarura (Pomacea urceus) molusco dulceacuícola muy abundante en la región de Camaguán (estado Guarico). Defensa de la Naturaleza. 2(5):41–45.Burky, Kathieleen A. & Burky, Albert J. 1977: Buoyancy changes as related to respiratory behavior in an amphibius snail Pomacea urceus (Muller) from Venezuela. The Nautilus 91(3):97-1004 Pomacea urceus guyanensis (Lamarck, 1810)Kennard, A. S., A. E. Salibury and B. B. Woodward. 1931: The types of Lamark genera of shell as selected by J. G. Children in 1823. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections. 82(17):1–40. Pomacea urceus olivacea (Spix, 1827) Pomacea vexillum (Revee, 1856)
Family Ancylidae Gundlachia saulcyana (Bourguignat, 1853)Dos Santos, Sonia B. 2003: Estado atual do conhecimento dos ancilídeos na América do Sul (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Pulmonata: Basommatophora). Revista de Biología Tropical 51 (Suppl. 3): 191–224. PDF Hebetancylus moricandi (D’Orbigny, 1837)
Family Hydrobiidae
Pyrgophorus coronatus (Pfeiffer, 1840) Pyrgophorus ernesti (Martens, 1873) Pyrgophorus globulus (Baker, 1930) Pyrgophorus parvulus (Guilding, 1828) Pyrgophorus putialis (Baker, 1930) Pyrgophorus platyrachis Thompson, 1968Nava, Mario., Severin, Héctor. y Machado Nakary. 2011. Distribución y taxonomía de Pyrgophorus platyrachis (Caenogastropoda: Hydrobiidae), en el sistema de Maracaibo, Venezuela. Revista de Biología Tropical, 59 (3): 1165–1172. PDF
Family Lymnaeidae Lymnaea meridensis Bargues, Artigas & Mas-Coma, 2011 - synonym: Galba cousini (Jousseaume, 1887) hitherto known from Venezuelan highlandsBargues M. D., Artigas P., Khoubbane M. & Mas-Coma S. (2011). "DNA sequence characterisation and phylogeography of Lymnaea cousini and related species, vectors of fascioliasis in northern Andean countries, with description of L. meridensis n. sp. (Gastropoda: Lymnaeidae)". Parasites & Vectors 4: 132. . - nativeBargues M. D., González L C., Artigas P. & Mas-Coma S. (2011). "A new baseline for fascioliasis in Venezuela: lymnaeid vectors ascertained by DNA sequencing and analysis of their relationships with human and animal infection". Parasites & Vectors 4: 200. . Galba neotropica (Bargues, Artigas, Mera y Sierra, Pointier & Mas-Coma, 2007) (native) Galba cubensis (Pfeiffer, 1839) (introduced from the Caribbean area) Pseudosuccinea columella (Say, 1817)Martínez E, Rafael y Miranda A, Rafael E. 1968: Aspectos de la reproducción en moluscos pulmonados del área metropolitana de Caracas. En: Estudio de Caracas. Ecología vegetal - fauna Vol:II pp:123–165. Universidad Central de Venezuela. Caracas-Venezuela - American ribbed fluke snail (introduced from the Caribbean area) Galba truncatula (O. F. Müller, 1774) (introduced from the Old World) Galba viatrix (D’Orbigny, 1835) (from Venezuela was identified as Galba truncatula) Galba schirazensis (Küster, 1862) (introduced from the Old World)
Family Neritidae Neritina meleagris (Lamarck, 1822)Baker, Hocece B. 1924: Land and freshwater molluscs of the dutch leeward island. Occasional Paper of the Museum of Zoology, 152:1–139.Rodríguez, Gilberto. 1973: El sistema del lago de Maracaibo. Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científica (IVIC). Caracas 397p.Flores, Celestino y Cáceres, Raquel. 1973: La familia Neritidea (Mollusca: Archaeogastropoda)en las aguas costeras de Venezuela. Boletín del Instituto Oceanográfico. Universidad de Oriente. 12(2):1–13.Museo del mar 2001: Catálogo de moluscos Marinos clase Gastropoda. Fundación Muso del Mar Musro marino de Margarita Boca del Río. 20pBitter, Ricardo S. y Martínez E. Rafael. 2001: Inventario de los moluscos marinos en las costas del estado Falcón, Venezuela. Acta Biologica Venezuelica, 21(1):21–41. Neritina piratica Russell, 1943 Neritina punctulata (Lamarck, 1816) Neritina reclivata (Say, 1822)Baker, Hocece B. 1923: The mollusca collected by the University of Michigan _ Williamson Expedition in Venezuela. Occasional Paper of the Museum of Zoology, 137:1–59 Neritina virginea (Linnaeus 1758) - virgin nerite
Family Pachychilidae Doryssa atra (Bruguièri, 1792)Pain, Thomas. 1956: Revision of the Melaniidae of British Guyana an Surinam. Basteria, 20(4–5):91–105Wikispecies: Doryssa atra. http://species.wikimedia.org/wiki/Doryssa_atra