Bulinus

Bulinus is a genus of small tropical freshwater snails, aquatic gastropod mollusks in the family Planorbidae, the ramshorn snails and their allies. This genus is medically important because several species of Bulinus function as intermediate hosts for the schistosomiasis blood fluke. Miocene genus Kosovia was synonymized Bulinus in 2017. These snails are widespread in Africa including Madagascar and the Middle East. This genus has not yet become established in the USA, but it is considered to represent a potentially serious threat as a pest, an invasive species which could negatively affect agriculture, natural ecosystems, human health or commerce. Therefore it has been suggested that this species be given top national quarantine significance in the USA. The shell of species in the genus Bulinus is sinistral. It has a very large body whorl and a small spire. Species within the genus Bulinus have been placed into four species groups: the Bulinus africanus group, Bulinus forskalii group, Bulinus reticulatus group and the Bulinus truncatus/tropicus complex. For the most part, species have been classified on the basis of their morphology although, in recent decades, the study of ploidy, allozymes and DNA methods have all played an increasing role in species discrimination. Morphological characters, whilst adequate to allocate a specimen to a species group are sometimes unreliable when used to classify at higher resolution especially within the Bulinus africanus group. There are 37 (or 38 species when the Bulinus mutandensis is recognized as a separate species) species within the genus Bulinus including: