Pomacea lineata

Pomacea lineata is a species of a freshwater snail with gills and an operculum, an aquatic gastropod mollusk in the family Ampullariidae, the apple snails.

Pomacea lineata
Apertural view of a shell of Pomacea lineata
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Mollusca
Class:
Gastropoda
(unranked):
clade Caenogastropoda
informal group Architaenioglossa
Superfamily:
Ampullarioidea
Family:
Ampullariidae
Genus:
Pomacea
Subgenus:
Pomacea
Species:
P. lineata
Binomial name
Pomacea lineata
(Spix, 1827)

Distribution

This species occurs in Brazil.

Apical view of a shell of Pomacea lineata

Ecology

The apple snail is a keystone species in Pantanal's ecosystem. When the wetlands are flooded once a year, the grass and other plants will eventually die and start to decay. During this process, decomposing microbes deplete the shallow water of all oxygen, suffocating larger decomposers. Unlike other decomposing animals, the apple snail have both gills and lungs, making it possible for them to thrive in anoxic waters where they recycle the nutrients. To get oxygen they extend a long snorkel to the water surface, and pumps air into their lungs. This ability allows them to consume all the dead plant matter and turning it into nutritious fertilizer available for the plants in the area. The snails themselves are also food for a variety of animals.[2][3][4]

Human use

Pomacea lineata is used as a zootherapeutical product for the treatment of asthma, sprains, boils and ulcer in traditional Brazilian medicine in the Northeast of Brazil.[5]

References
  1. Pastorino, G. & Darrigan, G. (2011). "Pomacea lineata". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2011: e.T189783A8768250. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2011-2.RLTS.T189783A8768250.en.
  2. Fellerhoff, C (2002). "Feeding and growth of apple snail Pomacea lineata in the Pantanal wetland, Brazil--a stable isotope approach". Isotopes Environ Health Stud. 38: 227–43. doi:10.1080/10256010208033268. PMID 12725426.
  3. "Apple Snail: Unlikely Hero of the Pantanal". Nature Box. Archived from the original on 1 June 2016. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
  4. "BBC Two - Secrets of our Living Planet, Waterworlds, Enter the apple snail". BBC. 1 July 2012. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
  5. Alves, R. R. N. (2009). "Fauna used in popular medicine in Northeast Brazil". Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine. 5: 1. doi:10.1186/1746-4269-5-1. PMC 2628872. PMID 19128461.


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