Ampullariidae, whose members are commonly known as apple snails, is a family of large freshwater snails that includes the mystery snail species. They are aquatic gastropod mollusks with a gill and an operculum. These snails simultaneously have a gill and a lung as functional respiratory structures, which are separated by a division of the mantle cavity. This adaptation allows these animals to be amphibious. Species in this family are considered gonochoristic, meaning that each individual organism is either male or female.
>>>PUT SHARE BUTTONS HERE<<<
In this Dossier
Ampullariidae in the context of Freshwater snail
Freshwater snails are gastropod mollusks that 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 to major rivers. The great majority of freshwater gastropods have a shell, with very few exceptions. Some groups of snails that live in freshwater respire using gills, whereas other groups need to reach the surface to breathe air. In addition, some are amphibious and have both gills and a lung (e.g. Ampullariidae). Most feed on algae, but many are detritivores and some are filter feeders.
Freshwater snails are indirectly among the deadliest animals to humans, as they carry parasitic worms that cause schistosomiasis, a disease estimated to kill between 10,000 and 200,000 people annually.
Ampullariidae in the context of Marisa cornuarietis
Marisa cornuarietis, common name the Colombian ramshorn apple snail, is a species of large freshwater snail with an operculum, an aquatic gastropod mollusc in the family Ampullariidae, the apple snail family.
These snails are popular in aquariums, and are also used in the wild as a biological control agent.
Ampullariidae in the context of Ctenidium (mollusc)
A ctenidium is a respiratory organ or gill which is found in many molluscs. This structure exists in bivalves, cephalopods, polyplacophorans (chitons), and in aquatic gastropods such as freshwater snails and marine snails. Certain molluscs, such as the bivalves, possess paired ctenidia, but others, such as members of the Ampullariidae, bear a single ctenidium.
A ctenidium is shaped like a comb or a feather, with a central part from which many filaments or plate-like structures protrude, lined up in a row. Some aquatic gastropods possess a single row of filaments on their ctenidium, known as the monopectinate condition, and others have a pair of filament rows, known as the bipectinate or aspidobranch condition. The ctenidium hangs into the mantle cavity and increases the area available for gas exchange. The word is Latinized but is derived from the Greek ktenidion which means "little comb", being a diminutive of the word kteis meaning comb.