An alien intermediate host snail, Radix rubiginosa (Gastropoda: Lymnaeidae), on Unguja Island, Zanzibar
Alexandra Juhász, Mtumweni Ali, Sam Jones, Carmen Ngo, Paula Cambero Guerra, E. James LaCourse, Othman Juma, Shaali M. Ame, J. Russell Stothard · 2026
Read An alien intermediate host snail, Radix rubiginosa (Gastropoda: Lymnaeidae), on Unguja Island, Zanzibar by Alexandra Juhász, Mtumweni Ali, Sam Jones, Carmen Ngo, Paula Cambero Guerra, E. James LaCourse, Othman Juma, Shaali M. Ame, J. Russell Stothard (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/pmc-13214348.txt.
Description
Alexandra Juhasz and co-authors report an alien snail species found on Unguja Island, Zanzibar, in a 2026 paper. Two unusual populations of freshwater snails were met in June 2025 during a wider survey of snail hosts across twenty-one sites near towns. The species can act as an intermediate host for parasites.
Shell, anatomy, and DNA tests identified the snails as Radix rubiginosa, a Southeast Asian species. This is its first observation in East Africa, adding to prior reports in South Africa. DNA within the populations showed no diversity and matched a Southeast Asian aquarium population closely. The find raises watchfulness for spread.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Alexandra Juhász, Mtumweni Ali, Sam Jones, Carmen Ngo, Paula Cambero Guerra, E. James LaCourse, Othman Juma, Shaali M. Ame, J. Russell Stothard |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 28 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |