''Pomacea diffusa'',

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often con ...

the spike-topped apple snail or Mystery Snail, is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

freshwater snail Freshwater snails are gastropod mollusks that live in fresh water. There are many different families. They are found throughout the world in various habitats, ranging from ephemeral pools to the largest lakes, and from small seeps and springs t ...

, an aquatic

gastropod Gastropods (), commonly known as slugs and snails, belong to a large Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, freshwater, and fro ...

mollusk Mollusca is a phylum of protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum after Arthropoda. The ...

in the family

Ampullariidae Ampullariidae, whose members are commonly known as apple snails, is a family of large freshwater snails that includes the mystery snail species. They are aquatic gastropod mollusks with a gill and an operculum. These snails simultaneously h ...

, the apple snails.

Taxonomy

''Pomacea diffusa'' was originally described as a subspecies of '' Pomacea bridgesii''. Pain (1960) argued that ''Pomacea bridgesii bridgesii'' was a larger form with a restricted range, with the smaller ''Pomacea bridgesii diffusa'' being the common form throughout the

Amazon Basin The Amazon basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributary, tributaries. The Amazon drainage basin covers an area of about , or about 35.5 percent of the South American continent. It is located in the countries ...

(Brazil, Peru, Bolivia). Cowie and Thiengo (2003) suggested that the latter might deserve full species status, and the two taxa have been confirmed as distinct species by genetic analyses.

Distribution

The type locality of ''Pomacea diffusa'' is in the city of

Santa Cruz de la Sierra Santa Cruz de la Sierra (; ), commonly known as Santa Cruz, is the largest city in Bolivia and the capital of the Santa Cruz Department (Bolivia), Santa Cruz department. Situated on the Pirai River (Bolivia), Pirai River in the eastern Tropical ...

, Bolivia, although the species is widespread throughout the Amazon Basin. Non-indigenous distribution of ''Pomacea diffusa'' include: * Thompson recorded this species (as ''Pomacea bridgesii'') in Florida in

Monroe Monroe or Monroes may refer to: People and fictional characters * Monroe (surname) * Monroe (given name) * James Monroe, 5th President of the United States * Marilyn Monroe, actress and model Places United States * Monroe, Arkansas, an unincorp ...

Miami-Dade Miami-Dade County () is a county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Florida. The county had a population of 2,701,767 as of the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Florida and the seventh-most-populous count ...

, Broward, Palm Beach, and Pinellas Counties. The FLMNH electronic database also lists samples from

Alachua County Alachua County ( ) is a county in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 278,468. The county seat is Gainesville, the home of the University of Florida. History Prehistory and ear ...

, but records cited from the FLMNH database for Brevard County are in fact from

Broward County Broward County ( ) is a County (United States), county in Florida, United States, located in the Miami metropolitan area. It is Florida's second-most populous county after Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County and the List of the most ...

. Rawlings et al. (2007) also collected this species in Hillsborough and Collier Counties. * ''Pomacea diffusa'' was first recorded in Florida (as ''Pomacea bridgesii'') by William J. Clench. The FLMNH has specimens collected in

Palm Beach County Palm Beach County is a county in the southeastern part of Florida, located in the Miami metropolitan area. It is Florida's third-most populous county after Miami-Dade County and Broward County and the 24th-most populous in the United States, wi ...

in 1967 (FLMNH 20295) and

and Broward Counties in the early 1970s (FLMNH 22175, 222247). Howells et al. (2006)Howells R. G., Burlakova L. F., Karatayev A. Y., Marfurt R. K. & Burks R. L. (2006). "Native and introduced Ampullariidae in North America: History, status, and ecology. In Global Advances in the Ecology and Management of Golden Apple Snails". In: Joshi R. C., Sebastian L. S., Muñoz N. E. (2006). Philippine Rice Research Institute. 2006: 73-112. reported its establishment in

Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. After a successful vote to annex areas west of the city limits in July 2023, Mobil ...

in 2003. *

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

Description

''Pomacea diffusa'' is known as the spike-topped apple snail, because of its relatively raised

spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spire ...

. It lacks a channeled suture, and overlaps in size with the '' Pomacea paludosa''. Pomacea diffusa eggs

The egg masses have an irregular honeycombed appearance, like those of '' Pomacea haustrum'', but are smaller and have a tan to salmon color, although they are white when freshly laid.

Human use

It is a part of ornamental pet trade for freshwater aquaria.Ng, T. H., Tan, S. K., Wong, W. H., Meier, R., Chan, S. Y., Tan, H. H., & Yeo, D. C. (2016). "Molluscs for sale: assessment of freshwater gastropods and bivalves in the ornamental pet trade". ''PLoS ONE'' 11(8): e0161130.

References

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External links