''Bullastra'' is a genus of large-sized, globose

snails A snail is a shelled gastropod. The name is most often applied to land snails, terrestrial molluscs, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs. However, the common name ''snail'' is also used for most of the members of the molluscan class Gas ...

in the family

Lymnaeidae Lymnaeidae, common name the pond snails, is a Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic family (biology), family of small to large air-breathing freshwater snails, Aquatic animal, aquatic pulmonate gastropod mollusks, that belong to the clade Hygrophila (cl ...

. Snails in this genus have large apertures and fleshy, triangular

tentacles In zoology, a tentacle is a flexible, mobile, and elongated organ present in some species of animals, most of them invertebrates. In animal anatomy, tentacles usually occur in one or more pairs. Anatomically, the tentacles of animals work main ...

. This genus is similar to

Austropeplea ''Austropeplea'' is a genus of air-breathing freshwater snails, aquatic pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Lymnaeidae, the pond snails.Bouchet, P. (2015). ''Austropeplea'' Cotton, 1942. In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed through: World R ...

but differs in generally being larger and having a distinctive twist in the

columella Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella (, Arabic: ) was a prominent Roman writer on agriculture in the Roman Empire. His in twelve volumes has been completely preserved and forms an important source on Roman agriculture and ancient Roman cuisin ...

Distribution and habitat

Bullastra are found in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

and on mainland

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. They are fully aquatic, living in smaller bodies of water, such as

ponds A pond is a small, still, land-based body of water formed by pooling inside a depression, either naturally or artificially. A pond is smaller than a lake and there are no official criteria distinguishing the two, although defining a pond t ...

and

streams A stream is a continuous body of surface water flowing within the bed and banks of a channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to by a variety of local or regional names. Long, large stream ...

Species

The genus ''Bullastra'' contains the following 4 species: * ''

Bullastra brevispira ''Bullastra'' is a genus of large-sized, globose snails in the family Lymnaeidae. Snails in this genus have large apertures and fleshy, triangular tentacles. This genus is similar to Austropeplea but differs in generally being larger and having ...

'' (Martens, 1897) * ''

Bullastra cumingiana ''Bullastra'' is a genus of large-sized, globose snails in the family Lymnaeidae. Snails in this genus have large apertures and fleshy, triangular tentacles. This genus is similar to Austropeplea but differs in generally being larger and havi ...

'' (Pfeiffer, 1855) * ''

Bullastra vinosa ''Bullastra'' is a genus of large-sized, globose snails in the family Lymnaeidae. Snails in this genus have large apertures and fleshy, triangular tentacles. This genus is similar to Austropeplea but differs in generally being larger and havi ...

'' (Adams and Angas, 1864) * '' Bullastra lessoni'' (Deshayes, 1830) Type species: ''Bullastra velutinoides'' Bergh, 1901 (=''

'' (Pfeiffer, 1855))

References

Lymnaeidae {{lymnaeidae-stub