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.
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).Dawes, J. (14 January 2013). International Waters: EU Finally Bans Apple Snail Imports. Retrieved 4 June 2014
Species Species in the genus Pomacea include:
subgenus Effusa Jousseaume, 1889 Pomacea baeri (Dautzenberg, 1902) Pomacea glauca (Linné, 1758) Pomacea quinindensis (K. Miller, 1879)
subgenus Pomacea Perry, 1810 Pomacea aldersoni (Pain, 1946)IUCN 2014. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.1. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 01 July 2014. Pomacea auriformis (Reeve, 1856) Pomacea aurostoma (Lea, 1856) Pomacea bridgesii (Reeve, 1856) Pomacea camena (Pain, 1949) Pomacea canaliculata (Lamarck, 1819)"Pomacea". The apple snail website, Accessed 12 May 2011. Pomacea catamarcensis (Sowerby, 1874) Pomacea columbiensis (Philippi, 1851) Pomacea columellaris (Gould, 1848) Pomacea commissionis (Ihering, 1898) Pomacea cousini (Jousseaume, 1877) Pomacea cumingii (P. P. King & Broderip, 1831) Pomacea decussata (Moricand) Pomacea diffusa Blume, 1957 Pomacea doliodes (Reeve, 1856) Pomacea eximia (Dunker, 1853) Pomacea falconensis Pain & Arias, 1958 PDF Pomacea fasciata (Roissy, 1805) Pomacea flagellata (Say, 1827) Pomacea haustrum (Reeve, 1856) Pomacea hollingsworthi (Pain, 1946) Pomacea lineata (Spix, 1827) Pomacea maculata Perry, 1810 - synonyms: Ampullaria gigas Spix, 1827; Pomacea insularum (D'Orbigny, 1839)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. . Pomacea megastoma (Sowerby I, 1825) Pomacea ocanensis (Kobelt, 1914) Pomacea occulta (Q.-Q. Yang & X.-P. Yu, 2019) Pomacea paludosa (Say, 1829) Pomacea papyracea (Spix, 1827) Pomacea pealiana (Lea, 1838) Pomacea poeyana (Pilsbry, 1927)Vázquez A. A. & Perera S. (2010). "Endemic Freshwater molluscs of Cuba and their conservation status". Tropical Conservation Science 3(2): 190–199. HTM, PDF. Pomacea prunella (Hupé, 1857) Pomacea reyrei (Cousin, 1887) Pomacea scalaris (D'Orbigny, 1835) Pomacea sinamarina (Bruguière, 1792) Pomacea urceus (Müller, 1774) Pomacea vexillum (Reeve, 1856) Pomacea zischkai (Blume & Pain, 1952)
As invasive species 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.
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.
References
External links
applesnails of Florida, Pomacea spp. on the UF / IFAS Featured Creatures Web site