Cipangopaludina cathayensis

Cipangopaludina cathayensis is a species of large, freshwater snail with an operculum and a gill, an aquatic gastropod mollusk in the family Viviparidae, the river snails.

Cipangopaludina cathayensis
Shell and operculum from type description.
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Caenogastropoda
Order:	Architaenioglossa
Family:	Viviparidae
Genus:	Cipangopaludina
Species:	C. cathayensis
Binomial name
Cipangopaludina cathayensis (Heude, 1890)[2]
Synonyms
Paludina catayensis Heude, 1890 (orthographic error) Paludina cathayensis Heude, 1890

Taxonomy

This species was described under the name Paludina catayensis by French Jesuit Pierre Marie Heude in 1890.^[2] Later reviewers treated the specific name catayensis as an orthographic error and changed the specific name to cathayensis.^[3] There is high intraspecific variation of shells within the genus Cipangopaludina,^[3] so Wilhelm Kobelt (1909)^[4] considered this taxon as a subspecies of Vivipara chinensis. Later authors Yen (1943), Liu (1991) and Lu et al (2014)^[3] 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), Northeast China (Jilin), North China (Shanxi, Hebei) and Central China (Henan, Hubei, Hunan).^[1]

Description

The width of the shell is 24.3–50.5 mm.^[3] The height of the shell is 27.7–58.5 mm.^[3] The shell has from five to six whorls.^[3] The apex is pointed.^[3]

Drawing of an apertural view.

Drawing of an abapertural view.

C. cathayensis has gills and an operculum. The kidney is triple-shaped.^[3] The diploid chromosome number of C. cathayensis is 2n=18.^[5] The complete mitochondrial genome of Cipangopaludina cathayensis is known since 2014.^[6] Its length is 17,157 bp.^[6]

Ecology

It inhabits lakes, reservoirs and ponds, as well as grassy paddies, where it clings to aquatic plants.^[1]

Each gravid female carries more than 60 embryos inside her.^[3] The shell of embryo has three whorls.^[3]

The pollutant removal in constructed wetlands with these snails was better, than in constructed wetlands without them.^[7]

Parasites of Cipangopaludina cathayensis include trematode Aspidogaster conchicola.^[8]

Human use

Cipangopaludina cathayensis

Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Carbohydrates	3.83 g[9]
Protein
Amino acids Threonine 2.952 g[9] Isoleucine 2.026 g Leucine 5.198 g Lysine 3.700 g Methionine 1.145 g Cystine 1.233 g Phenylalanine 1.894 g Tyrosine 2.731 g Valine 1.894 g Arginine 4.537 g Histidine 1.057 g Alanine 3.524 g Aspartic acid 6.211 g Glutamic acid 9.868 g Glycine 3.340 g Proline 1.850 g Serine 2.996 g
Vitamins and minerals
Other constituents	Quantity
Water	77.30 g[9]
Crude fat	0.60 g[9]
Crude protein	13.72 g[9]
Crude ash	4.55 g[9]
†Percentages estimated using US recommendations for adults,[10] except for potassium, which is estimated based on expert recommendation from the National Academies[11]

It is used as human food and in the preparation of medicines, and as feed for fish, poultry and livestock.^[1] It is also used as a fertilizer.^[1]