Clithon oualanienseRosenberg G. (2015). Clithon oualaniense. In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=737519 on 2016-04-04 is a species of brackish waterGrüneberg H. & Nugaliyadde L. (1976). "Population studies on a polymorphic prosobranch snail (Clithon (Pictoneritina) oualaniensis Lesson). Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 275(940): 385–437. . snail with an operculum, a nerite. It is an aquatic gastropod mollusk in the family Neritidae, the nerites.
Distribution This species occurs in Indo-Pacific region: Nansei-shoto in Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore, Jawa in Indonesia, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Queensland in Australia IndiaKumar P. S. & Khan A. B. (2013). "The distribution and diversity of benthic macroinvertebrate fauna in Pondicherry mangroves, India". Aquatic biosystems 9(1): 1. . and Ceylon. It also occurs in American Samoa, Cook Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, Guam, New Caledonia, Samoa, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.
Description The coloration pattern on the shell is very variable.Gruneberg H. (1982). "Pseudo-polymorphism in Clithon oualaniensis". Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 216(1203): 147-157. .
Ecology Clithon oualaniense is a eurybiotic species.Zvonareva S., Kantor Yu., Li X. & Britayev T. (2015). "Long-term monitoring of Gastropoda (Mollusca) fauna in planted mangroves in central Vietnam". Zoological Studies 54: 39. . It inhabits soft bottoms of intertidal habitats. It can occur in high density, for example 347 snails per m² was recorded, that correspond to the biomass of 30.6 g per m². It also inhabits sea grass bed with Zostera japonica. The activity of Clithon oualaniense is diurnal; snails are active during the daytime and inactive at night. It bury itself into the mud, when the tide is high, probably to avoid water predators.Ohgaki S. I. (2001). "An example of activity pattern of the estuarine snails, Clithon faba and Clithon oualaniensis (Gastropoda: Neritidae) in the Nagura Lagoon, Ishigaki Island". Argonauta 4: 28-37. HTML. They are on the surface feeding and mating when the tide is low.
Clithon oualaniense is herbivorous, feeding of microalgae and on detritus.Takada Y. (2000). "Activity patterns of Clithon oualaniensis (Mollusca: Gastropoda) on intertidal seagrass beds in Hong Kong". In: The Marine Flora and Fauna of Hong Kong and Southern China V: Proceedings of the Tenth International Marine Biological Workshop: the Marine Flora and Fauna of Hong Kong and Southern China, Hong Kong, 6–26 April 1998 (Vol. 5, p. 217). Kent State University Press. 217-227.
References
External links
Budiman A. (1988). "Aspect of ecology of Clithon oualaniensis (Gastropoda: Neritidae) on Sonneratia pioneer zone at Sosobok River, Kao Bay, Halmahera". In: Biological Systems of Mangroves, a Report of East Indonesian Mangrove Expedition, 1986. eds. K Ogino & M Chihara, Ehime University, 59-65. https://archive.org/stream/systematischesco210mart#page/192/mode/2up/