Order Caenogastropoda
Superfamily Ceriathoidea
Family Thiaridae
The species in this family are parthenogenic,meaning females can give birth to live
young without being fertilized.

Melanoides species 

Melanoides plicaria(Born,1778)
Shell:long,slender,red brown with darker markings,about 100 mm high,16-18 whorls.
Operculum:horn colored
Habitat:Brackish or fresh water near the mouth of streams and rivers.
Area:South-East Asia,Slomon Islands,Vanuatu,Samoa.

Melanoides punctata(Lamarck,1822)
Shell:turret shaped with a pointed spire and radial striations,yellow-brown 
with red-brown specks,aperture has a white lip.
Operculum:horn brown
Habitat:Stones and gravel in streams and ponds.
Area:South-East Asia,New Guinea,Solomon Islands,Vanuatu

Melanoides torulosa(Bruquiere,1789)
Shell:long with a long bodywhorl,dark brown with ridges,10-12 whorls,
the apertur is white grey.
Operculum:black.
Habitat:Stones and gravel in streams.
Area:South-East Asia,Solomon Islands,Vanuatu


Melanoides tuberculata(Muller,1774)
Shell:turret shaped,yellow-brown with red-brown lines and spiral striations,
aperture white-brown,8-9 whorls.
Operculum:black-brown
Habitat:Still or flowing water,drains and on the sides of fast flowing rivers.
Area:North-Africa,Middle East,Asia,North Australia,New Guinea,Solomon Islands,
Vanuatu,Fiji,Samoa,Tonga,Cook Islands and French Polynesia.
This is a species often seen in the aquariumtrade.

pictures:Freshwater shells