''Pomacea haustrum'',

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 ...

the titan applesnail, is a

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 ...

of large

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 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, the applesnails.

Original description

''Pomacea haustrum'' was originally described under the name ''Ampullaria haustrum'' by

Lovell Augustus Reeve Lovell Augustus Reeve (19 April 1814 – 18 November 1865) was an English conchologist and publisher. Life Born at Ludgate Hill, London, on 19 April 1814, he was a son of Thomas Reeve, draper and mercer, by his wife Fanny Lovell. After attendi ...

in his book '' Conchologia Iconica'', in 1856. In Reeve's original text, (the

type description A species description is a formal description of a newly discovered species, usually in the form of a scientific paper. Its purpose is to give a clear description of a new species of organism and explain how it differs from species that have be ...

) reads as follows: It is difficult to identify even the general region of the type locality for this species. The type locality was given as the Río Marañón, Brazil, but this river is in Peru, joining with the

Rio Ucayali The Ucayali River ( es, Río Ucayali, ) is the main headstream of the Amazon River. It rises about north of Lake Titicaca, in the Arequipa region of Peru and becomes the Amazon at the confluence of the Marañón close to Nauta city. The city of ...

above

Iquitos Iquitos (; ) is the capital city of Peru's Maynas Province and Loreto Region. It is the largest metropolis in the Peruvian Amazon, east of the Andes, as well as the ninth-most populous city of Peru. Iquitos is the largest city in the world th ...

to become the

Rio Solimões Rio or Río is the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese word for "river". When spoken on its own, the word often means Rio de Janeiro, a major city in Brazil. Rio or Río may also refer to: Geography Brazil * Rio de Janeiro * Rio do Sul, a ...

, which in turn joins with the Rio Negro to become the

Amazon River The Amazon River (, ; es, Río Amazonas, pt, Rio Amazonas) in South America is the largest river by discharge volume of water in the world, and the disputed longest river system in the world in comparison to the Nile. The headwaters of t ...

of Brazil. Some of the first Europeans to explore the region in the sixteenth century, however, referred to the Amazon River as El Río Marañón, and some nineteenth century maps refer to the entire Amazon as the Marañón. It is likely that the Río Marañón of one collector was not the same as the Río Marañón of another. It was considered a synonym of ''

Pomacea canaliculata ''Pomacea canaliculata'', commonly known as the golden apple snail or the channeled apple snail, is a species of large freshwater snail with gills and an operculum, an aquatic gastropod mollusc in the family Ampullariidae, the apple snails. S ...

'' by Thompson (1997) based on shell morphology, but tentatively retained as a separate species by Cowie & Thiengo,Cowie R. H. & Thiengo S. C. (2003) "The apple snails of the Americas (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Ampullariidae: ''Asolene'', ''Felipponea'', ''Marisa'', ''Pomacea'', ''Pomella''): a nomenclatural and type catalog". ''

Malacologia ''Malacologia'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal in the field of malacology, the study of mollusks. The journal publishes articles in the fields of molluscan systematics, ecology, population ecology, genetics, molecular genetics, evolution, an ...

'' 45: 41-100. because of its reported production of green eggs. Phylogenetic analyses by Rawlings et al. (2007) confirmed its species status.

Shell description

''Pomacea haustrum'' is a large species that has a large globular

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 ou ...

with a channeled suture.

Distribution

The indigenous distribution of ''Pomacea haustrum'' 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 ...

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 ...

in South America. The nonindigenous distribution includes the United States:

Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge The Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge is a wildlife sanctuary is located west of Boynton Beach, in Palm Beach County, Florida. It is also known as Water Conservation Area 1 (WCA-1). It includes the most northern remnant ...

waters in Palm Beach County, Florida. ''Pomacea haustrum'' were discovered in the late 1970s in Palm Beach County Florida, and have not spread appreciably in 30 years. This is the only known area where this species is established in the United States. The initial introduction in the United States was probably from aquarium release, aka "aquarium dumping". ''Pomacea haustrum'' is currently of relatively minor concern in the U.S., given its failure to spread beyond Palm Beach County after 30 years or more in Florida. However, many species have maintained limited distributions, sometimes for decades, before becoming invasive.

Ecology

Habitat

This species lives in freshwater rivers.

Life cycle

Populations of ''Pomacea haustrum'' in Florida produce bright green egg masses consisting of individual eggs approximately 3–5 mm in size compressed into polygonal shapes, giving the egg mass an irregular honeycombed appearance. Since other ''Pomacea'' species also produce green eggs, this character is insufficient to verify this species as ''Pomacea haustrum''. It lays its eggs in clutches above the water level.

References

This article incorporates a

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...

work of the United States Government A work of the United States government, is defined by the United States copyright law, as "a work prepared by an officer or employee of the United States Government as part of that person's official duties." "A 'work of the United States Governmen ...

from the reference Benson A. (2008). "''Pomacea haustrum''".

USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, a ...

Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database, Gainesville, FL. Revision Date: 8/14/2007 and CC-BY-2.0 text from the reference.