Melanoides tuberculata (Müller, 1774)

Kharkongor, Ilona Jacinta, Saikia, Uttam, Khynriam, Dimos & Saikia, Bhaskar, 2023, Current status of faunal diversity of Siju Cave, South Garo Hills, Meghalaya, Records of the Zoological Survey of India 123 (3), pp. 283-303 : 297

35. Melanoides tuberculata (Müller, 1774)

1774. Nerita tuberculata Müller, Hist. Verm. Terr. Fluv. , 2: 191.

Material examined: 1 ex. Siju Cave (~ 150-200m inside the Cave), Siju village, South Garo Hills District , Meghalaya, 25 o 21.061’N, 90 o 41.006’E, 119m, 03.i.2020, coll. I. J. Kharkongor & party, Reg. No. IV / MOL /ERS-842 .

Remarks: In the 1924 report, Annandale and Chopra mentioned that a single broken shell of the aquatic species Melanoides pyramis (Hutton) was found and another was collected at 350ft from the entrance. Melanoides pyramis is a synonym of Melanoides tuberculata , one of the most widely distributed freshwater Mollusca. Resurveys of the Cave carried out from 2018-2020 yielded only a single dead/empty and highly eroded shell of this species.