''Pomacea bridgesii'',

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 contrast ...

s the spike-topped apple snail or mystery snail, is a South American

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

freshwater snail Freshwater snails are gastropod mollusks which 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 ...

with

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 ...

s and an operculum, an aquatic

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 ...

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 ...

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, wh ...

. These snails were most likely introduced to the United States through the aquarium trade.

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. They are able to regenerate the eye completely after amputation through the mid-eyestalk. They are born with both gills and lungs. Mystery snails also possess a siphon which is a small tube used to breathe air. They frequently surface to breathe.

Distribution

The native distribution of this snail is

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

and

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

Non-indigenous distribution

This species is non-indigenous in Hawaii since 1960 (''Pomacea bridgesii diffusa''), southeast Asia since the 1980s, and Florida since the early 1980s (''Pomacea bridgesii diffusa'').

Offspring

Most mystery snails lay their eggs above the water line. They are gonochoristic which means a male and female must be present for reproduction. The eggs take 2–4 weeks to hatch. The snails can produce as many as two hundred offspring from one egg-laying event. Sometimes not all the eggs are fertilized so they do not all hatch. When they do hatch, the hatchlings run the risk of being eaten if they share an aquarium with fish. Hatchling mystery snails will grow quickly if given an appropriate amount of food and calcium. A hatchling mystery snail will start as a speck and can grow to the size of a pea in just over a week. A mystery snail is considered to be breeding size once it is almost the size of a golf ball, which can take as little as two months with the proper diet.

Environment

Mystery Snails are often found in lakes or rivers, where the oxygen levels is low,and are equipped with both an air tube and lung, as well as a gill, allowing them to easily breathe and take in the proper oxygen needed for survival. ''Pomacea bridgesii'' are mainly found in tropical environments and unable to sustain conditions under 50 degrees.

References

External links

* http://www.applesnail.net {{Taxonbar, from=Q1766438 bridgesii Molluscs of South America Gastropods described in 1856