Pomacea is a genus of freshwater snails with gills and an operculum, aquatic gastropod mollusks in the family Ampullariidae, the apple snails. The genus is native to the Americas; most species in this genus are restricted to South America.

Pomacea
A live individual of Pomacea bridgesii
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Phylum:
Class:
(unranked):
clade Caenogastropoda
informal group Architaenioglossa
Superfamily:
Family:
Subfamily:
Ampullariinae
Tribe:
Ampullariini
Genus:
Pomacea

Perry, 1810[1]
Synonyms[2]
  • Ampullaria (Limnopomus) Dall, 1904
  • Ampullaria (Pomacea) Perry, 1810
  • Ampullarius (Effusa) Jousseaume, 1889
  • Ampullarius (Limnopomus) Dall, 1904
  • Asolene (Surinamia) Clench, 1933
  • Effusa Jousseaume, 1889
  • Limnopomus Dall, 1904
  • Pomacea (Effusa) Jousseaume, 1889
  • Pomacea (Pomacea) Perry, 1810
  • Pomacea (Surinamia) Clench, 1933

In the aquarium trade these snails are sometimes called Pomacea or incorrectly Ampullarius, and in English as "[color] mystery snail" or "apple snail".

Some species have been introduced outside their native range and are considered invasive because of their voracious appetite for plants. Because of this, imports involving this genus are restricted in some regions (including the United States) and are entirely banned in others (including the EU).[3]

Species

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Species in the genus Pomacea include:

subgenus Effusa Jousseaume, 1889

subgenus Pomacea Perry, 1810

As invasive species

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Because of the potential to destroy aquatic and marsh vegetation in the wild, the European Union has banned all imports of snails from the family Ampullariidae, which includes the genus Pomacea.[3]

Similarly, the United States prohibits all members of Ampullariidae except one from being imported or transported interstate, except with a permit for the purposes of research. The sole exception to this is Pomacea diffusa (formerly P. bridgesii) as it is not known to be an agricultural pest.[11]

References

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  1. ^ Perry (1810). Arcana, sign. G5.
  2. ^ a b c d "WoRMS - World Register of Marine Species - Pomacea Perry, 1810". www.marinespecies.org. Retrieved 2021-09-15.
  3. ^ a b Dawes, J. (14 January 2013). International Waters: EU Finally Bans Apple Snail Imports. Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 4 June 2014
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l IUCN 2014. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.1. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 01 July 2014.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p "Pomacea". The apple snail website, Accessed 12 May 2011.
  6. ^ MolluscaBase eds. "Pomacea commissionis (Ihering, 1898)". MolluscaBase. Retrieved 2022-01-11. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  7. ^ Cazzaniga, N. J. (2002). "Old species and new concepts in the taxonomy of Pomacea (Gastropoda: Ampullariidae)". Biocell. 26 (1): 71–81. PMID 12058383. PDF
  8. ^ Hayes K. A., Cowie R. H., Thiengo S. C. & Strong E. E. (2012). "Comparing apples with apples: clarifying the identities of two highly invasive Neotropical Ampullariidae (Caenogastropoda)". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 166(4): 723–753. {{doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2012.00867.x}}.
  9. ^ Vázquez A. A. & Perera S. (2010). "Endemic Freshwater molluscs of Cuba and their conservation status". Tropical Conservation Science 3(2): 190–199. HTM, PDF.
  10. ^ "WoRMS - World Register of Marine Species - Pomacea sinamarina (Bruguière, 1792)". www.marinespecies.org. Retrieved 2022-01-12.
  11. ^ "Snails and Slugs". Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. June 10, 2021. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
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