Pomacea paludosa

Species of gastropod

Pomacea paludosa
Temporal range: Pliocene-present
Colored engraving of a live Pomacea paludosa made by Helen Lawson († 1854) and published in 1845 A monograph of the freshwater univalve Mollusca of the United States: including notices of species in other parts of North America by Samuel Stehman Haldeman.
Conservation status

Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Mollusca
Class:
Gastropoda
(unranked):
clade Caenogastropoda
informal group Architaenioglossa
Superfamily:
Ampullarioidea
Family:
Ampullariidae
Genus:
Pomacea
Subgenus:
Pomacea
Species:
P. paludosa
Binomial name
Pomacea paludosa
(Say, 1829)
Synonyms[2]
  • Ampullaria caliginosa Reeve, 1856
  • Ampullaria depressa Say, 1824 (invalid: junior homonym of Ampullaria depressa Lamarck, 1804; A. paludosa is a replacement name)
  • Ampullaria hopetonensis I. Lea, 1834
  • Ampullaria miamiensis Pilsbry, 1899
  • Ampullaria paludosa Say, 1829 (original combination)
  • Ampullaria pinei Dall, 1898 (junior synonym)
  • Pomacea (Pomacea) paludosa (Say, 1829) · accepted, alternate representation
  • Pomacea paludosa flava M. Smith, 1937

Pomacea paludosa, common name the Florida applesnail, is a species of freshwater snail with an operculum, an aquatic gastropod mollusk in the family Ampullariidae, the apple snails.

Shell description

Five views of a shell of Pomacea paludosa

This species is the largest freshwater gastropod native to North America.[3]

The shell is globose in shape. The whorls are wide, the spire is depressed, and the aperture is narrowly oval.[3] The shells are brown in color, and have a pattern of stripes.

The shell is 60 millimetres (2.4 in) in both length and width.[3]

Distribution

The indigenous distribution of this snail is central and southern Florida,[4] Cuba and Hispaniola.[5]

The nonindigenous distribution includes northern Florida. The species has also been found in Georgia, Oahu, Hawaii (Devick 1991)[citation needed], Louisiana, and Oklahoma.[5]

Ecology

The maturation of eggs of Pomacea paludosa: freshly laid eggs in a thick mucus matrix have a salmon coloration (left). Mature eggs in calcified shells are pinkish white in color (right).

This is a tropical species. It is amphibious, and can survive in water bodies that dry out during the dry season.[3]

Applesnails have both gills and lungs.

References

  1. ^ Cordeiro, J. & Perez, K. (2011). "Pomacea paludosa". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2011. IUCN: e.T189339A8718219. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2011-2.RLTS.T189339A8718219.en. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  2. ^ MolluscaBase eds. "Pomacea paludosa (Say, 1829)". MolluscaBase. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d Burch, J. B. 1982. North American freshwater snails. Walkerana 1(4):217-365.
  4. ^ Thompson, F.G. 1984. The freshwater snails of Florida: a manual for identification. University of Florida Press, Gainesville, Florida, 94 pp.
  5. ^ a b Dundee, D. S. 1974. Catalog of introduced molluscs of eastern North America (north of Mexico). Sterkiana 55:1-37.
  • Applesnails of Florida Pomacea spp. (Gastropoda: Ampullariidae) <https://www.egovlink.com/public_documents300/winterhaven/published_documents/Winter%20Haven/Lakes/Backyard%20Wildlife/Animal%20Information/Snails%20and%20Slugs/Applesnails%20of%20Florida%20IN59800.pdf>

This article incorporates public domain text from:

  • A. Benson. 2008. Pomacea paludosa. USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database, Gainesville, FL. <https://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/FactSheet.asp?speciesID=985> Revision Date: 4/24/2006

Further reading

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pomacea paludosa.
  • McClary, A. 1962. Surface inspiration and ciliary feeding in Pomacea paludosa (Prosobranchia: Mesogastropoda: Ampullariidae). Malacologia, 2(1): 87-104.
  • Philip C. Darby, Robert E. Bennetts, Jason D. Croop, Patricia L. Valentine-Darby and Wiley M. Kitchens A Comparison of Sampling Techniques for Quantifying Abundance of the Florida Apple Snail (Pomacea Paludosa Say). J. Moll. Stud. (1999), 65, 195-208.
  • Philip C. Darby, Patricia L. Valentine-Darby, H. Franklin Percival & Wiley M. Kitchens. Collecting Florida applesnails (Pomacea paludosa) from wetland habitats using funnel traps. Wetlands. Volume 21, Issue 2 (June 2001): 308–311.
  • Robert B.E. Shuford III, Paul V. McCormick & Jennifer Magson. Habitat related growth of juvenile Florida applesnails (Pomacea paludosa). Florida Scientist. Volume 68, Issue 1 (March 2005): 11–19.
  • Bruce Sharfstein & Alan D. Steinman. Growth and survival of the Florida apple snail (Pomacea paludosa) fed 3 naturally occurring macrophyte assemblages. Journal of the North American Benthological Society, Volume 20, Issue 1 (March 2001): 84–95.
  • Posch H., Garr A. L. & Reynolds E. (2013). "The presence of an exotic snail, Pomacea maculata, inhibits growth of juvenile Florida apple snails, Pomacea paludosa". Journal of Molluscan Studies 79(4): 383-385. doi:10.1093/mollus/eyt034.
  • Applesnails of Florida on the UF / IFAS Featured Creatures Web site
  • The applesnails of Florida
  • Apple Snail Habitat Suitability Index
  • https://web.archive.org/web/20060923125401/http://nis.gsmfc.org/nis_factsheet.php?toc_id=155
  • http://www.applesnail.net/content/species/pomacea_paludosa.htm
Taxon identifiers
Pomacea paludosa