Tanganyicia rufofilosa is a species of tropical freshwater snail

Freshwater snail

A freshwater snail is one kind of freshwater mollusc, the other kind being freshwater clams and mussels, i.e. freshwater bivalves. Specifically a freshwater snail is a gastropod that lives in a watery non-marine habitat. The majority of freshwater gastropods have a shell, with very few exceptions....

 with an operculum

Operculum (gastropod)

The operculum, meaning little lid, is a corneous or calcareous anatomical structure which exists in many groups of sea snails and freshwater snails, and also in a few groups of land snails...

, an aquatic

Aquatic animal

An aquatic animal is an animal, either vertebrate or invertebrate, which lives in water for most or all of its life. It may breathe air or extract its oxygen from that dissolved in water through specialised organs called gills, or directly through its skin. Natural environments and the animals that...

 gastropod mollusk in the family Paludomidae

Paludomidae

Paludomidae, common name paludomids, is a family of freshwater snails, gastropod molluscs in the clade Sorbeoconcha.- Taxonomy :The following three subfamilies have been recognized in the taxonomy of Bouchet & Rocroi :...

.

It was prior to 2002 placed within Thiaridae

Thiaridae

Thiaridae, common name thiarids, is a family of tropical freshwater snails with an operculum, aquatic gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Cerithioidea....

.

Distribution

Tanganyicia rufofilosa is endemic to the Lake Tanganyika

Lake Tanganyika

Lake Tanganyika is an African Great Lake. It is estimated to be the second largest freshwater lake in the world by volume, and the second deepest, after Lake Baikal in Siberia; it is also the world's longest freshwater lake...

. It is found in Burundi

Burundi

Burundi , officially the Republic of Burundi , is a landlocked country in the Great Lakes region of Eastern Africa bordered by Rwanda to the north, Tanzania to the east and south, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. Its capital is Bujumbura...

, the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...

, Tanzania

Tanzania

The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...

, and Zambia

Zambia

Zambia , officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....

. The type locality is Lake Tanganyika.

Description

The shape of the shell

Gastropod shell

The gastropod shell is a shell which is part of the body of a gastropod or snail, one kind of mollusc. The gastropod shell is an external skeleton or exoskeleton, which serves not only for muscle attachment, but also for protection from predators and from mechanical damage...

 is ovate conic.

The width of the shell is 14 mm. The height of the shell is 17 mm.

Ecology

Its natural habitat

Habitat

* Habitat , a place where a species lives and grows*Human habitat, a place where humans live, work or play** Space habitat, a space station intended as a permanent settlement...

 is freshwater lake

Lake

A lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams,...

s. Tanganyicia rufofilosa lives in depths 5–25 m on silty and sandy bottom in hight population densities.

Females are viviparous.

It has been considered as Endangered species in 1996. It is threatened mainly by sedimentation

Sedimentation

Sedimentation is the tendency for particles in suspension to settle out of the fluid in which they are entrained, and come to rest against a barrier. This is due to their motion through the fluid in response to the forces acting on them: these forces can be due to gravity, centrifugal acceleration...

. Habitats of this species are damaged by settlements and disturbances.

Further reading

• Moore J. E. S. (1899). "The mollusks of the Great African lakes. 3. Tanganyicia rufofilosa, and the genus Spekia
  Spekia
  Spekia is a genus of freshwater snails, gastropods in the Paludomidae family.Spekia is type genus of the tribe Spekiini.- Species :There have been known only one species in Spekia, the second species have been described in 1999....
  
  ". Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science 42: 155-185. Plates 14-19. PDF.
• Smith E. A. (1881). "On a collection of shells from lakes Tanganyika and Nyassa and other localities in East Africa". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1881: 276-300. Plates 32-34. page 288. Plate 33, Figure 20, 20a.