''Pomella'' 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 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 ...
s,
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 ...
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.
As is the case in some other genera of apple snails, ''Pomella'' deposits
eggs
Humans and human ancestors have scavenged and eaten animal eggs for millions of years. Humans in Southeast Asia had domesticated chickens and harvested their eggs for food by 1,500 BCE. The most widely consumed eggs are those of fowl, especial ...
above the waterline in calcareous clutches. This protects the eggs against
predation
Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill ...
by fish and other aquatic inhabitants.
Species
Species within the genus ''Pomella'' include:
* ''
Pomella americanista Pomella may refer to:
* a trademark of pomegranate ellagitannin
The pomegranate ellagitannins, which include punicalagin isomers, are ellagitannins found in the sarcotestas, rind (peel), bark or heartwood of pomegranates (''Punica granatum'').
...
'' (Ihering, 1919)
* ''
Pomella megastoma
''Pomacea megastoma'' is a species of gastropod belonging to 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 ...
'' (G. B. Sowerby I, 1825)
Uruguay
The name of the country
Uruguay
Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...
perhaps ultimately comes from ''P. megastoma'', or ' in the
Guaraní language
Guaraní (), specifically the primary variety known as Paraguayan Guarani ( "the people's language"), is a South American language that belongs to the Tupi–Guarani family of the Tupian languages. It is one of the official languages of ...
. The name of the
Uruguay river
The Uruguay River ( es, Río Uruguay, ; pt, Rio Uruguai, ) is a major river in South America. It flows from north to south and forms parts of the boundaries of Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay, separating some of the Argentine provinces of La M ...
, which gave its name to the country, comes from the Spanish settlers' rendering of the native name the inhabitants of the region used to designate it. This interpretation is considered possible because ''uruguá''s are abundant in the river
El País newspaper: Presentan tesis del nombre Uruguay
, Retrieved 21 November 2014.
References
Ampullariidae
{{Gastropod-stub