Margarya catayensis is a species of large, freshwater snail with an operculum and a gill, an aquatic gastropod mollusk in the family Viviparidae, the river snails.
Taxonomy This species was described under the name Paludina catayensis by French Jesuit Pierre Marie Heude in 1890. Later reviewers treated the specific name catayensis as an orthographic error and changed the specific name to cathayensis. There is high intraspecific variation of shells within the genus Cipangopaludina, so Wilhelm Kobelt (1909) Kobelt W. (1909). "Die Gattung Paludina Lam. (Vivipara Montfort): Neue Folge. In: Abbildungen Nach de Natur mit Beschreibungen". Systematisches Conchylien–Cabinet von Martini und Chemnitz 1(21a): 97-380, plates 15–77, pages 112–113, plate 18, figure 5-6. considered this taxon as a subspecies of Vivipara chinensis. Later authors Yen (1943), Liu (1991) and Lu et al (2014) considered this taxon as a separate species.
Distribution The species has a wide distribution throughout central and southeastern China, occurring in East China (provinces Shandong, Anhui, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Jiangxi), North China (Shanxi, Hebei) and Central China (Henan, Hubei, Hunan).
Description The width of the shell is 24.3–50.5 mm. The height of the shell is 27.7–58.5 mm. The shell has from five to six whorls. The apex is pointed.
The kidney is triple-shaped. The diploid chromosome number of C. cathayensis is 2n=18. The complete mitochondrial genome of Cipangopaludina cathayensis is known since 2014. Its length is 17,157 bp.Yang H., Zhang J. E., Luo H., Luo M., Guo J., Deng Z. & Zhao B. (2014). "The complete mitochondrial genome of the mudsnail Cipangopaludina cathayensis (Gastropoda: Viviparidae)". Mitochondrial DNA: The Journal of DNA Mapping, Sequencing, and Analysis : 1–3. .
Ecology It inhabits lakes, reservoirs and ponds, as well as grassy paddies, where it clings to aquatic plants.
Each gravid female carries more than 60 embryos inside her. The shell of embryo has three whorls.
The pollutant removal in constructed wetlands with these snails was better, than in constructed wetlands without them.
Parasites of Cipangopaludina cathayensis include trematode Aspidogaster conchicola.
Human use
It is used as human food and in the preparation of medicines, and as feed for fish, poultry and livestock. It is also used as a fertilizer.
References
Further reading
Gao M. X. & Yao X. D. (2005). "Research on Taurine Extraction in River-Snail". Journal of Jianghan Petroleum Institute (Social Science Edition) 8: 27. abstract. Lei Y. L., Yin W. Z., Zhang Y., Dong W. W. & Tang Z. Y. (2012). "Effect of Cadmium and Mercury on Catalase Activity of the Mudsnail (Cipangopaludina cathayensis)". Journal of Neijiang Normal University 4: 10. abstract. Li X. Y., Li Y., Zhou S. Q. & Yan B. L. (2010). "Analysis and evaluation of nutritional composition in two freshwater fingersnails". Food Science 31: 276–279. abstract. Shen J., Zhao Y., Li S. & Zhu G. (2013). 三种常用农药对环棱螺, 圆田螺和河蚬的急性毒性研究. "Acute toxicity of three common pesticides to Bellamya quadrata, Cipangopaludina cathayensis and Corbicula fluminea". Chinese Journal of Pesticide Science 15(5): 559–566. . abstract.