''Lanistes'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

of freshwater snails which have a

gill A gill () is a respiratory organ that many aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow respiration on land provided they are ...

and an operculum, aquatic gastropod

mollusk Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is e ...

s in the family

Ampullariidae Ampullariidae, commonly known as the apple snails, is a family of large freshwater snails, aquatic gastropod mollusks with a gill and an operculum. These snails simultaneously have a gill and a lung as functional respiratory structures ...

, the apple snails.Bouchet, P.; Neubauer, Thomas A. (2015). Lanistes Montfort, 1810. In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=820447 on 2015-11-11

Distribution

The distribution of the genus ''Lanistes'' includes Africa and

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

.Brown D. S. (1994). ''Freshwater Snails of Africa and their Medical Importance''.

Taylor & Francis Taylor & Francis Group is an international company originating in England that publishes books and academic journals. Its parts include Taylor & Francis, Routledge, F1000 (publisher), F1000 Research or Dovepress. It is a division of Informa ...

. .

Description

''Lanistes'' has a unique anatomy among the Ampullariidae: it has a "hyperstrophic" sinistral

shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses ** Thin-shell structure Science Biology * Seashell, a hard o ...

. This means that the body of the snail is dextral (as in all other ampullariids), but the shell appears to be sinistral. However the sinistral appearance stems from the fact that the rotation of the shell as it grows is in an upward direction rather than the usual downward direction."Shell"
The apple snail website, accessed 16 May 2011.

Species

Three subgenera have been recognized, based on

differences: ''Lanistes'' sensu stricto, ''Meladomus'' and ''Leroya''. These subgenera are not used in recent works. Extant species within the genus ''Lanistes'' include: * '' Lanistes alexandri'' (Bourguignat, 1889) * '' Lanistes ambiguus'' Martens, 1866 * '' Lanistes bernardianus'' (Morelet, 1860) * '' Lanistes beseneckeri'' Schütt in Schütt & Besenecker, 1973 † * '' Lanistes bicarinatus'' Germain, 1907 * '' Lanistes bloyeti'' (Bourguignat, 1889) * '' Lanistes boltenianus'' (Röding, 1798) - synonym: ''Lanistes carinatus'' (Olivier, 1804)Bouchet, P. (2016). ''Lanistes boltenianus'' (Röding, 1798). In: MolluscaBase (2017). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=843296 on 2017-06-06 * '' Lanistes chaperi'' (Kobelt, 1912) * '' Lanistes ciliatus'' Martens, 1878"''Lanistes''"
The apple snail website, accessed 16 May 2011. * ''

Lanistes congicus ''Lanistes'' is a genus of freshwater snails which have a gill and an operculum, aquatic gastropod mollusks in the family Ampullariidae, the apple snails.Bouchet, P.; Neubauer, Thomas A. (2015). Lanistes Montfort, 1810. In: MolluscaBase (201 ...

'' O. Boettger, 1891 * ''

Lanistes deguerryanus ''Lanistes'' is a genus of freshwater snails which have a gill and an operculum, aquatic gastropod mollusks in the family Ampullariidae, the apple snails.Bouchet, P.; Neubauer, Thomas A. (2015). Lanistes Montfort, 1810. In: MolluscaBase (201 ...

'' (Bourguignat, 1889) * '' Lanistes ellipticus'' Martens, 1866 * '' Lanistes farleri'' Craven, 1880 * '' Lanistes fultoni'' (Kobelt, 1912) * '' Lanistes grasseti'' (Morelet, 1863) * '' Lanistes graueri'' Thiele, 1911 * '' Lanistes intortus'' Martens, 1877 * '' Lanistes jouberti'' (Bourguignat, 1888) * '' Lanistes letourneuxi'' (Bourguignat, 1879) * '' Lanistes libycus'' (Morelet, 1848) ** ''Lanistes libycus ''var.'' albersi'' ** ''Lanistes libycus'' form ''bernardianus'' or as '' Lanistes bernardianus'' (Morelet, 1860) * '' Lanistes magnus'' Furtado, 1886 * '' Lanistes nasutus'' Mandahl-Barth, 1972 * '' Lanistes neavei'' Melvill & Standen, 1907 * '' Lanistes neritoides'' Brown & Berthold, 1990 * '' Lanistes nitidissimus'' (Bourguignat, 1889) * '' Lanistes nsendweensis'' (Dupuis & Putzeys, 1901) * '' Lanistes nyassanus'' Dohrn, 1865 * '' Lanistes ovatus'' (Olivier, 1804) * '' Lanistes ovum'' Peters in Troschel, 1845 - synonyms: ''Lanistes magnus'' Furtado; Lanistes olivaceus (Sowerby); ''Lanistes procerus''; ''Lanistes elatior'' Martens, 1866; ''Lanistes ovum bangweolicus'' Haas, 1936; ''Lanistes connollyi'' Pain, 1954 ''Lanistes ovum adansoni''; ''Lanistes olivaceus ''var.'' ambiguus'' * '' Lanistes palustris'' (Morelet, 1864) * '' Lanistes pfeifferi'' (Bourguignat, 1879) * '' Lanistes pilsbryi'' Walker, 1925 * '' Lanistes pseudoceratodes'' (Wenz, 1928) * '' Lanistes purpureus'' (Jonas, 1839) * '' Lanistes solidus'' Smith, 1877 * '' Lanistes stuhlmanni'' Martens, 1897 * '' Lanistes varicus'' (Müller, 1774) - synonyms: ''Lanistes adansoni'' Kobelt, 1911; ''Lanistes millestriatus'' Pilsbry & Bequaert, 1927 Fossil species within the genus ''Lanistes'' include: * † '' Lanistes asellus'' van Damme & Pickford, 1995 * † '' Lanistes bishopi'' Gautier * † '' Lanistes gautieri'' van Damme & Pickford, 1995 * † '' Lanistes gigas'' van Damme & Pickford, 1995 * † '' Lanistes hadotoi'' van Damme & Pickford, 1995van Damme D. & Pickford M. (1995). "The late Cenozoic ampullariidae (mollusca, gastropoda) of the Albertine Rift Valley (Uganda-Zaire)". '' Hydrobiologia'' 316(1): 1-32. . * † '' Lanistes heynderycxi'' van Damme & Pickford, 1995 * † '' Lanistes nkondoensis'' van Damme & Pickford, 1995 * † '' Lanistes olukaensis'' * † '' Lanistes senuti'' van Damme & Pickford, 1995 * † '' Lanistes trochiformis'' van Damme & Pickford, 1995

References

External links

Animation showing how the "hyperstrophic" sinistral shell evolved from a shell with normal orientation
* Schultheiß R., Van Bocxlaer B., Wilke T. & Albrecht C. (2009). "Old fossils–young species: evolutionary history of an endemic gastropod assemblage in Lake Malawi". ''

Proceedings of the Royal Society B ''Proceedings of the Royal Society'' is the main research journal of the Royal Society. The journal began in 1831 and was split into two series in 1905: * Series A: for papers in physical sciences and mathematics. * Series B: for papers in life s ...

'' 276(1668): 2837-2846. . {{Taxonbar, from=Q5220039 Ampullariidae Taxonomy articles created by Polbot