Shellfish, a group of invertebrates and aquatic organism, is covered by chitinous or calcareous exoskeleton.  Shell means an outer covering or layer which is popularly known as “Kholos” in Bengali. Shellfish belongs to two major Phylum Arthropoda and Mollusca. In Bangladesh there are a wide range of shellfishes have been found which comprises different groups such as, Crustaceans (shrimp, prawn, lobster, crayfish, and crab) Molluscs (clam, mussel, oyster and scallop), and others (squid, octopus and snails, sea urchins, etc). A list of mussels and snails species found in Bangladesh is given here-

Mussels:

Sl Scientific name English name Habitat Distribution
1 Mytilus edulis Blue mussel M Ccoasts of Britain, Morecambe Bay, and estuaries of southwest England, west Scotland and west Wales.
2 Perna viridis Green mussel CR Intertidal coasts of India
3 Perna Indica Brown mussel CR Intertidal coasts of India
4 Septifer sp. Box Mussel M Indo-West Pacific.
5 Chlanys sp. Box Mussel Indo-West Pacific.

Snails:

Sl Scientific name English name Habitat Distribution
1 Turbo sp. Turban Shell M Indo-West Pacific.
2 Neritia sp. Nerite B Indo-West Pacific, Eastern part of the Indian Ocean and the tropical West Pacific.
3 Cerithium sp Cerith E Indo-West Pacific, from the west coast of India and Srilanka to eastern Malayasia.
4 Terebralia sp. Mud Creeper CR Indo-West Pacific, from East Africa to Melanesia
5 Acutangula sp. Turret shell M Found in all seas
6 Maculatus sp. Maculated Top M, CR Indo-West Pacific
7 Monodonta sp. Top Shell M, CR Indo-West Pacific.
8 Arabica (top) Cowry M Indo-west Pacific.
9 Fusinus sp. Nicobar Spindle fusiform M Indo-West Pacific.
10 Fasciolaria sp. Tulip Shell M Caribbean Province & Bay of Bengal
11 Latirus sp. Many Angled Spindle M Indo-West Pacific
12 Thais sp. Rock Shell M Probably widespread in the Indo-west Pacific but frequent confusion with similar Species
13 Indica sp. Turrit Shell M, CR Indo-West Pacific
14 Oliva sp. Olive Shell M, CR Tropical west Pacific, Indo- West Pacific.
15 Murex sp. Murex Shell CR Indo-West Pacific
16 Textile sp. Cone Shell M, CR Indo-West Pacific.
17 Mitra sp. Meter Shell CR Central Indo-West Pacific
18 Pila globosa Freshwater apple snail F North-Central India to Bankok
19 Lymnaea stagnalis Stagnant pond snail F British Isles: Great Britain and Ireland, Canada (Alberta province), Cambodia, Czech Republic – least concern (LC), Germany – distributed in whole, Germany but in 2 states in red list (Rote Liste BRD), Netherlands, Poland, Russia – Sverdlovsk oblast, Slovakia, Sweden (Skåne), Switzerland, Ukraine
20 Melanoides tuberculata  Live bearer snail F Northern Africa , South Africa and also found in Asia (Bangladesh, China, India (including Andaman Islands), Japan, Laos, Malaysia (Peninsular Malaysia), Nepal, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Vietnam,Thailand
21 Telescopium telescopium Telescope shells M Mainly found in Madagascar but somewhat in this subcontinent also
22 Viviparus begalensis Data are not available ID
23 Viviparus variata Data are not available ID
24 Bythinia Stenothyroides Data are not available ID Found in India and adjacent countries
25 Mysorella costigera Data are not available ID Karnataka (A. Madhyastha pers. obs.) and a few specimens collected in Madras, Tamil Nadu, southern India and Sri Lanka
26 Assiminia brevicula Salt marsh snail, Red mangrove snail B Asia; India, Sri Lanka, Philippines, China (including Hong Kong), Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, Viet Nam, Japan and Thailand.Native in Bangladesh; China; Hong Kong; India (West Bengal); Japan; Malaysia; Myanmar; Philippines; Singapore; Sri Lanka; Taiwan, Province of China; Thailand; Viet Nam
27 Sulcospira variabilis F Malaysia, China, Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam and also in Bay of Bengal
28 Lymnea pinguis No common name recorded
29 Pyla viren
30 Anisus convexiusculus

Oyester:

Sl Scientific name English name Habitat Distribution
1 Ostrea edulis Native oyster E, CR Norwegian Sea south through the North Sea down to the Iberian Peninsula and the Atlantic coast of Morocco. Found in the Mediterranean Sea and extends into the Black Sea.
2 Crassostrea belcheri Edible oyster M
3 Srassostrea cucullata Edible oyster M Indo-Pacific including the Red Sea, recorded in the Suez Canal
4 Crassostrea madrasensis Edible oyster CR South-West and South-East coasts of India
5 Pinctada sp. Pearl oyster CR South-East coasts of India

Here, F= Freshwater; B= Brackish water;   M=Marine; CR= Coastal region; E=estuary; ID= Insufficient data

REFERENCES

Benson A. J. (2008). “Melanoides tuberculatus“. USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database, Gainesville, FL

Chowdhury SI. 2001. The Sundarbans at a Glance. In: Q. I. Chowdhury (ed.), State of the Sundarbans. FEJB, MoEF and UNDP. 135-137pp.

Conservation of Biodiversity, Marine Park Establishment & Eco-tourism Development Project at St. Martin’s Island. 4/5 Iqbal road, Mohammadpur, Dhaka-1207

Juřičková L., Horsák M. & Beran L. (2001) “Check-list of the molluscs (Mollusca) of the Czech Republic”. Acta Soc. Zool. Bohem. 65: 25-40

Madhyastha A. (2010). Melanoides tuberculatus In: IUCN 2010. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2010.4.

Sarr A., Kinzelbach R. & Diouf M. (2011, in press). “Diversite specifique et ecologie des mollusques continenatux de la basse vallee du Ferlo (Senegal). [Specific diversity and ecology of continental molluscs from the Lower Ferlo Valley (Senegal)]”. MalaCo 7: 8 pp

Shah MS. 1998. Sundarbaner Matshya Sampoder Sangrockhon O Babosthapona ( Conservation and Management of the Sundarbans Fisheries Resources). In: Matshya Saptaha-1998, Department of Fisheries. Dhaka. 87-90pp.

Verma PS. 2000. A manual of practical zoology invertebrates. Pub. By S. Chand and company (PVT) Ltd. Ram Nagar, New Delhi; 314-426.

 

 


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Shellfishes of Bangladesh: Mussel, Snail & Oyster

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S.M. Abu Naser

MS Student, Department of Fisheries, University of Rajshahi, Rajshahi-6205, Bangladesh. Email: smanaser@gmail.com; smanaser@bdfish.org. More...

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