Apple snail
| Ampullariidae Apple snail Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
| Spike-topped apple snail Pomacea bridgesii | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| Subclass: | Caenogastropoda |
| Order: | Architaenioglossa |
| Superfamily: | Ampullarioidea |
| Family: | Ampullariidae J. E. Gray, 1824 |
| Diversity | |
| 105–170 freshwater species; 9 genera; more than 150 nominal species | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Pilidae | |
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.