Pomacea bridgesii

Pomacea bridgesii
Pomacea bridgesii in aquarium
Conservation status
NE[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. bridgesii
Binomial name
Pomacea bridgesii (Reeve, 1856)

See also: Pomacea diffusa, formerly known as Pomacea bridgesii.

Pomacea bridgesii, common names the Spike-topped apple snail or Mystery snail, is a South American species of freshwater snail with gills and an operculum, an aquatic gastropod mollusk in the family Ampullariidae.

Subspecies

• Pomacea bridgesii bridgesii (Reeve, 1856)
• Pomacea bridgesii diffusa (Blume, 1957)

Anatomy

Mystery snails possess structurally complex eyes at the tip of a cephalic eyestalk. These snails possess the ability to regenerate the eye completely after amputation through the mid-eyestalk. They are born with both gills and lungs. ^[2]

Distribution

The native distribution of this snail is Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Peru.

Non-indigenous distribution

It is non-indigenous in Hawaii since 1960 (Pomacea bridgesii diffusa), south-east Asia since 1980s and in Florida since early 1980s (Pomacea bridgesii diffusa).^[3]Blakoo

Offspring

Mystery snails lay their eggs above the water line, which take 2-4 weeks to hatch. They can have as many as two-hundred offspring.

Human relevance

It is often kept as an aquarium pet because of its wide range of shell colors, lack of appetite for live plants, and ease of care.

References

1. ^ 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Cited 14 April 2008.
2. ^ Bover, M. M. (1988). "Eye regeneration in the mystery snail". J. Exp. Zool. 245 (1): 33–42. PMID 3351443. 
3. ^ Pomacea bridgesi

External links

• http://www.applesnail.net