''Achatina'' is a genus of medium-sized to very large, air-breathing, tropical
land snail
A land snail is any of the numerous species of snail that live on land, as opposed to the sea snails and freshwater snails. ''Land snail'' is the common name for terrestrial gastropod mollusks that have shells (those without shells are known as ...
pulmonate
Pulmonata or pulmonates, is an informal group (previously an order, and before that a subclass) of snails and slugs characterized by the ability to breathe air, by virtue of having a pallial lung instead of a gill, or gills. The group includ ...
gastropod
The gastropods (), commonly known as snails and slugs, belong to a large taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda ().
This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, from freshwater, and from land. T ...
mollusks in the family Achatinidae.Bouchet, P. (2014). Achatina Lamarck, 1799. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=818098 on 2014-11-07
Distribution
There are some 200 species of Achatinidae in
Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the List of sov ...
. Some species are kept as terrarium animals due to their size and colourful shells.
Shell description
Snails in this genus have medium to large shells which are ovate in shape and often colourfully streaked.
Species
Species within the genus ''Achatina'' include:
* ''
Achatina achatina
''Achatina achatina'', commonly known as the giant African snail, also known as the giant tiger land snail, and gigantocochlea, is a species of large, air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Achatinidae. ...
1758
Events
January–March
* January 1 – Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus (Carl von Linné) publishes in Stockholm the first volume (''Animalia'') of the 10th edition of Systema Naturae, 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'', the sta ...
or giant African snail, Agate Snail or Ghana Tiger Snail, from Western Africa (
Liberia
Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...
through Nigeria) grows to be the largest land snail on Earth.
* ''
Achatina ampullacea
''Achatina'' is a genus of medium-sized to very large, air-breathing, tropical land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Achatinidae.Bouchet, P. (2014). Achatina Lamarck, 1799. Accessed through: World Register of Marine ...
'' Böttger, 1910
*''
Achatina balteata
''Achatina'' is a genus of medium-sized to very large, air-breathing, tropical land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Achatinidae.Bouchet, P. (2014). Achatina Lamarck, 1799. Accessed through: World Register of Marine ...
Achatina bandeirana
''Achatina'' is a genus of medium-sized to very large, air-breathing, tropical land snails, terrestrial molluscs, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Achatinidae.Bouchet, P. (2014). Achatina Lamarck, 1799. Accessed through: Wor ...
'' Morelet, 1866
* ''
Achatina bayaona
''Achatina'' is a genus of medium-sized to very large, air-breathing, tropical land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Achatinidae.Bouchet, P. (2014). Achatina Lamarck, 1799. Accessed through: World Register of Marine ...
'' Morelet, 1866
* ''
Achatina bayoli
''Achatina'' is a genus of medium-sized to very large, air-breathing, tropical land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Achatinidae.Bouchet, P. (2014). Achatina Lamarck, 1799. Accessed through: World Register of Marine ...
'' Morelet, 1888
* ''
Achatina bisculpta
''Achatina'' is a genus of medium-sized to very large, air-breathing, tropical land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Achatinidae.Bouchet, P. (2014). Achatina Lamarck, 1799. Accessed through: World Register of Marine ...
'' E. A. Smith, 1878
* ''
Achatina connollyi
''Achatina'' is a genus of medium-sized to very large, air-breathing, tropical land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Achatinidae.Bouchet, P. (2014). Achatina Lamarck, 1799. Accessed through: World Register of Marine ...
'' Preston, 1912
* ''
Achatina coroca
''Achatina'' is a genus of medium-sized to very large, air-breathing, tropical land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Achatinidae.Bouchet, P. (2014). Achatina Lamarck, 1799. Accessed through: World Register of Marine ...
'' Bruggen, 1978
*''
Achatina craveni
''Achatina craveni'' is a species of air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Achatinidae, the giant African snails.
Distribution
Distribution of ''Achatina craveni'' includes "between Zanzibar and Lake T ...
'' E. A. Smith, 1881 -
Congo
Congo or The Congo may refer to either of two countries that border the Congo River in central Africa:
* Democratic Republic of the Congo, the larger country to the southeast, capital Kinshasa, formerly known as Zaire, sometimes referred to a ...
Achatina dammarensis
''Achatina'' is a genus of medium-sized to very large, air-breathing, tropical land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Achatinidae.Bouchet, P. (2014). Achatina Lamarck, 1799. Accessed through: World Register of Marine ...
Achatina ellioti
''Achatina'' is a genus of medium-sized to very large, air-breathing, tropical land snails, terrestrial molluscs, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Achatinidae.Bouchet, P. (2014). Achatina Lamarck, 1799. Accessed through: Wor ...
Achatina randabeli
''Achatina'' is a genus of medium-sized to very large, air-breathing, tropical land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Achatinidae.Bouchet, P. (2014). Achatina Lamarck, 1799. Accessed through: World Register of Marin ...
Achatina transparens
''Achatina'' is a genus of medium-sized to very large, air-breathing, tropical land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Achatinidae.Bouchet, P. (2014). Achatina Lamarck, 1799. Accessed through: World Register of Marin ...
Achatina vassei
''Achatina vassei'' is a species of air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Achatinidae, the giant African snails.
Of ''‘Achatina’ vassei'' only the holotype was known up to 2010. The collector o ...
'' Germain, 1918 - The internal anatomy of this species is not known, and therefore the generic classification of ''‘Achatina’ vassei'' cannot be made.Bruggen A. C. van (2010). "A new record of ''‘Achatina’ vassei'' Germain, 1918 (Gastropoda, Pulmonata, Achatinidae) from Mozambique – an unsolved problem". ''
Zoologische Mededelingen
''Zoologische Mededelingen'' was a peer-reviewed open access scientific journal publishing papers and monographs on animal systematics. The publisher was the National Museum of Natural History Naturalis in the Netherlands. The first issue appeared ...
'' 84 HTM .
;Species brought into synonymy:
*''Achatina albopicta'' E. A. Smith, 1878 - along the coast of Kenya and Tanzania: synonym of '' Lissachatina albopicta'' (E. A. Smith, 1878)
* ''Achatina allisa'' Reeve, 1849: synonym of '' Lissachatina allisa'' (L. Reeve, 1849)
* ''Achatina bloyeti'' Bourguignat, 1890: synonym of '' Lissachatina bloyeti'' (Bourguignat, 1890)
* ''Achatina capelloi'' Furtado, 1886: synonym of '' Lissachatina capelloi'' (Furtado, 1886)
* ''Achatina fulgurata Pfeiffer, 1853 - Senegal: synonym of '' Achatina eleanorae'' Mead, 1995
* ''Achatina drakensbergensis'' Melvill & Ponsonby, 1897 : synonym of '' Cochlitoma drakensbergensis'' (Melvill & Ponsonby, 1897)
* ''Achatina eleanorae'' Mead, 1995: synonym of '' Lissachatina eleanorae'' (Mead, 1995)
* ''Achatina fulica'' Bowdich, 1822 or giant East African snail from Eastern Africa is a serious pest in the many tropical countries where it has been introduced, and is listed as an
invasive species
An invasive species otherwise known as an alien is an introduced organism that becomes overpopulated and harms its new environment. Although most introduced species are neutral or beneficial with respect to other species, invasive species ad ...
by some governments: synonym of ''
Lissachatina fulica
''Lissachatina fulica'' is a species of large land snail that belongs in the subfamily Achatininae of the family Achatinidae. It is also known as the Giant African land snail.Lissachatina glaucina'' (E. A. Smith, 1899)
* ''Achatina glutinosa'' Pfeiffer, 1854 - Mozambique: synonym of '' Lissachatina glutinosa'' (L. Pfeiffer, 1854)
* ''Achatina gundlachi'' L. Pfeiffer, 1850: synonym of '' Geostilbia gundlachi'' (L. Pfeiffer, 1850)
* ''Achatina immaculata'' Lamarck, 1822 - Southeastern Africa: synonym of '' Lissachatina immaculata'' (Lamarck, 1822)
* ''Achatina johnstoni'' E. A. Smith, 1899: synonym of '' Lissachatina johnstoni'' (E. A. Smith, 1899)
* ''Achatina monochromatica'' Pilsbry (Deprecated. Old historical synonym of ''Achatina achatina'' var. ''monochromatic'')
* ''Achatina mulanjensis'' Crowley & Pain - Malawi: synonym of ''
Achatina immaculata
''Lissachatina immaculata'' is a species of very large, air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Achatinidae. MolluscaBase eds. (2021). MolluscaBase. Lissachatina immaculata (Lamarck, 1822). Accessed thr ...