Galba cousini is a species of air-breathing freshwater snail, an aquatic pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Lymnaeidae, the pond snails.MolluscaBase eds. (2020). MolluscaBase. Galba Schrank, 1803. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=716335 on 2020-12-14
Description
The length of the shell attains 13.8 mm. Galba cousini are intermediate hosts of the liver fluke Fasciola hepatica, the causal agent of fasciolosis, a zoonotic parasitic disease.
Distribution Unlike marine snails, Galba cousini is a freshwater species endemic to the northern Andean regions of South America. Its geographic range includes high-altitude areas of Ecuador, Colombia, and Venezuela.
Habitat As an aquatic air-breathing snail, it inhabits high-altitude freshwater environments, such as ponds, marshy areas, and slow-moving streams. These habitats are ecologically significant, as the snails living there serve as intermediate hosts for the zoonotic liver fluke parasite Fasciola hepatica.
References
Pilsbry, H. A. (1935). South American land and freshwater mollusks. 9. Colombian species. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 87: 83–88. Pointier J.P. (ed.). (2015). Freshwater molluscs of Venezuela and their medical and veterinary importance. Harxheim: ConchBooks. 228 pp
External links
Jousseaume, F., 1887. - Mollusques nouveaux de la république de l'Equateur. Bulletin de la Société Zoologique de France 12: 165-186 Preston, H.B. (1907). Descriptions of new species of land and freshwater shells from Central and South America. The Annals and Magazine of Natural History, (7) 20 (120): 490-498. London. Bargues M. D., Artigas P., Khoubbane M. & Mas-Coma S. (2011). "DNA sequence characterisation and phylogeography of Lymnaea cousini and related species, vectors of fascioliasis in northern Andean countries, with description of L. meridensis n. sp. (Gastropoda: Lymnaeidae)". Parasites & Vectors 4: 132. .