Bulinus forskalii is a species of a tropical freshwater snail

Freshwater snail

A freshwater snail is one kind of freshwater mollusc, the other kind being freshwater clams and mussels, i.e. freshwater bivalves. Specifically a freshwater snail is a gastropod that lives in a watery non-marine habitat. The majority of freshwater gastropods have a shell, with very few exceptions....

 with a sinistral shell, an aquatic

Aquatic animal

An aquatic animal is an animal, either vertebrate or invertebrate, which lives in water for most or all of its life. It may breathe air or extract its oxygen from that dissolved in water through specialised organs called gills, or directly through its skin. Natural environments and the animals that...

 gastropod mollusk in the family Planorbidae

Planorbidae

Planorbidae, common name the ramshorn snails or ram's horn snails, is a family of air-breathing freshwater snails, aquatic pulmonate gastropod mollusks....

, the ramshorn snails and their allies.

Distribution

Bulinus forskalii is an afrotropical species and occur in number of countries in Africa:

• Northern Africa: only in Egypt and Sudan.
• Western Africa: Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo.
• Eastern Africa: Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Somalia, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
• Central Africa: Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. An extreme variant of Bulinus forskalii lives also on São Tomé
  São Tomé
  -Transport:São Tomé is served by São Tomé International Airport with regular flights to Europe and other African Countries.-Climate:São Tomé features a tropical wet and dry climate with a relatively lengthy wet season and a short dry season. The wet season runs from October through May while the...
  
   Island.
• Southern Africa: South Africa and Swaziland.

It has been recently introduced to Madagascar.

Its presence is uncertain in Mauritania, Nigeria and in Sierra Leone.

Ecology

Its natural habitat

Habitat

* Habitat , a place where a species lives and grows*Human habitat, a place where humans live, work or play** Space habitat, a space station intended as a permanent settlement...

 are lake margins, swamps, marshes and wetland areas. It lives in all types of freshwater bodies and it have been found mainly in dam

Dam

A dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. Hydropower and pumped-storage hydroelectricity are...

s and brooks in South Africa. The substratum

Substratum

In linguistics, a stratum or strate is a language that influences, or is influenced by another through contact. A substratum is a language which has lower power or prestige than another, while a superstratum is the language that has higher power or prestige. Both substratum and superstratum...

 is often muddy.

Bulinus forskalii is a hermaphroditic species. Self-fertilization can occur.

Parasites of Bulinus forskalii include:

• as intermediate host for Schistosoma guineensis
• as intermediate host for Schistosoma intercalatum
  Schistosoma intercalatum
  Schistosoma intercalatum is an important parasite. It is one of the major agents of schistosomiasis.A freshwater snail Bulinus forskalii is an intermediate host for Schistosoma intercalatum....
  
  
• as intermediate host for Schistosoma haematobium
  Schistosoma haematobium
  Schistosoma haematobium is an important digenetic trematode, and is found in the Middle East, India, Portugal and Africa. It is a major agent of schistosomiasis; more specifically, it is associated with urinary schistosomiasis....
  
  - experimental infection in Niger, but incompatible in South Africa
• as intermediate host for Gastrodiscus aegyptiacus, that causes gastrodiscosis in horses
• three species of paramphistomes (superfamily Paramphistomoidea)

It has been found incompatible with Schistosoma mattheei in South Africa.