Ampullariidae are freshwater snails predominantly distributed in humid tropical and sub-tropical habitats in Africa, South and Central America and Asia. This catalogue is concerned only with the non-fossil Old World species, the majority of which are placed in the genera Pila and Lanistes, with a few species in Afropomus, Forbesopomus and Saulea. Pila occurs in Africa and Asia, Lanistes, Afropomus and Saulea only in Africa and Forbesopomus only in Asia. New World taxa were catalogued in a previous publication. The taxonomy of the group is heavily based on shell morphology but the true number of valid taxa remains unknown, pending revisionary work. This catalogue provides the rigorous nomenclatural base for this future work by bringing together all the available and unavailable genus-group and species-group names that have been applied to Recent Asian and African ampullariids, indicating their current nomenclatural status (species, subspecies, synonyms, etc.). Fossil taxa are not included. The catalogue lists 21 published genus-group and 244 published species-group names of Old World ampullariids, excluding 25 names that are incertae sedis and cannot be definitively determined as Old or New World. Of these 265 Old World names, five genus-group and 104 species-group (including 30 infraspecific) names are currently valid. There are 16 genus-group synonyms, 118 species-group synonyms and four species-group homonyms that are not treated as junior synonyms. Also listed are five unavailable family-group, one unavailable genus-group and 18 unavailable species-group names, and a number of unpublished names from museum labels. The catalogue provides bibliographic details for all published names, locations of type material, details of type localities and geographic distributions as far as can be ascertained given the confused state of the taxonomy. The catalogue is a work of nomenclature; it is not a revisionary work of taxonomy. Additional details and corrections to the earlier catalogue of the apple snails of the Americas are provided. No new names are proposed. Seven apparently new combinations are introduced, all with the genus Pila Preston: complicata Reeve, dira Reeve, major Germain (described as a variety of ovata Olivier), majorGermain (described as a variety of speciosa Philippi), obvia Mabille, pallens Philippi, turbinoides Reeve.

Vinarski, Amy R. Wethington, Thomas Wilke

Apple snails (Ampullariidae) are freshwater, operculate snails globally distributed in humid tropical and subtropical habitats. Nine genera are recognized: Afropomus, Saulea and Lanistes are African; Pila is African and Asian; Asolene, Felipponea, Marisa and Pomella are South American; Pomacea ranges from Argentina to the southeastern USA. Ampullariid taxonomy and evolutionary relationships have historically been poorly understood, especially regarding Pomacea , which has implications for research on many aspects of ampullariid evolutionary biology. In this dissertation I present the most comprehensive assessment of ampullariid phylogenetic systematics to date and explore some central themes in evolutionary biology that are pertinent to apple snails and their evolution in the Neotropics. In reconstructing the phylogenetic relationships of the ampullariids I used two mitochondrial and three nuclear genes. Analyses of these genes independently and in combination support the reciprocal monophyly of the New and Old World taxa and confirm the need for a taxonomic revision of the New World genera. The phylogeny also reveals a trend of increasingly amphibious habits among some of the more derived ampullariids. Such changes in habits appear to have evolved in parallel with increases in siphon length and expansion of the lung, efficacy of atmospheric oxygen uptake, diversification and enlargement of the copulatory apparatus, desiccation resistance, oviposition behavior and egg morphology. All these changes, in concert with the changing freshwater systems of the Neotropics during the last 90 myr, have probably played a significant role in the evolution of ampullariids. Understanding such processes combined with the well resolved phylogeny have allowed me to better characterize apple snail invasiveness and accurately identify those species introduced outside their native ranges. Finally, since the Ampullariidae are probably the sister group to all Caenogastropoda, this phylogeny establishes the basis for future studies that will provide insights into gastropod evolution in general.

The caenogastropod family Ampullariidae Gray, 1824, is a family of freshwater snails predominantly distributed in humid tropical and subtropical habitats in Africa, South and Central America, and Asia. The family includes the largest of all freshwater snails and frequently constitutes a major portion of the native freshwater malacofauna of these regions. Ampullariid taxonomy is confused primarily because most species were described on the basis of only shell morphology, which is highly variable within species yet relatively conservative among species within the family. The need for rigorous taxonomic treatment of the group is acute, and a starting point for such research is a comprehensive study of type material. With type or possible type material of 20 nominal species-group taxa of Ampullariidae, belonging to the genera Afropomus Pilsbry and Bequaert, 1927 (1 taxon, from Africa), Felipponea Dall, 1919 (2, South America), Forbesopomus Bequaert and Clench, 1937 (1, Asia), Lanistes Montfort, 1810 (2, Africa), Pila Röding, 1798 (2, Asia), and Pomacea Perry, 1810 (11, South, Central, and North America), as well as 1 incertae sedis taxon in Pila or Pomacea, the U.S. National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, has significant holdings, for which this annotated catalogue is provided. To stabilize the nomenclature, lectotypes are designated for eight species-group taxa. No new synonyms are proposed, other than as a result of the provision of a replacement name for elongata Dall, 1921, non d'Orbigny, 1842, nec Rochebrune and Germain, 1904. Accounts are arranged alphabetically by original published species-group name. Information in each account includes original name and combination, citation to the original description, current taxonomic status, type material held by the U.S. National Museum (holotypes, paratypes, syntypes, lectotypes, paralectotypes, and one neotype) with catalogue number(s) and number of specimens in each catalogue lot, type locality, and other remarks or additional information as appropriate. All name-bearing types are illustrated.

"Ponder and Lindberg provides a breathtaking overview of the evolutionary history of the Mollusca, effectively melding information from anatomy, ecology, genomics, and paleobiology to explore the depths of molluscan phylogeny. Its outstanding success is due to thoughtful planning, focused complementary contributions from 36 expert authors, and careful editing. This volume is a must for malacologists."—Bruce Runnegar, Department of Earth and Space Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles "Our understanding of the phylogeny and evolutionary history of the mollusca has been revolutionized over the past two decades through new molecular data and analysis, and reinvestigation of morphological characters. In this volume Ponder, Lindberg, and their colleagues do a wonderful job of integrating this work to provide new perspectives on the relationships of the major molluscan clades, their evolutionary dynamics, and their history. Particularly timely is the coverage of molluscan evo-devo and genomics."—Douglas H. Erwin, Curator of Paleozoic Invertebrates, National Museum of Natural History

This pioneering encyclopedia illuminates a topic at the forefront of global ecology—biological invasions, or organisms that come to live in the wrong place. Written by leading scientists from around the world, Encyclopedia of Biological Invasions addresses all aspects of this subject at a global level—including invasions by animals, plants, fungi, and bacteria—in succinct, alphabetically arranged articles. Scientifically uncompromising, yet clearly written and free of jargon, the volume encompasses fields of study including biology, demography, geography, ecology, evolution, sociology, and natural history. Featuring many cross-references, suggestions for further reading, illustrations, an appendix of the world’s worst 100 invasive species, a glossary, and more, this is an essential reference for anyone who needs up-to-date information on this important topic. Encyclopedia of Biological Invasions features articles on: • Well-known invasive species such the zebra mussel, chestnut blight, cheatgrass, gypsy moth, Nile perch, giant African snail, and Norway rat • Regions with especially large numbers of introduced species including the Great Lakes, Mediterranean Sea, Hawaiian Islands, Australia, and New Zealand. • Conservation, ecological, economic, and human and animal health impacts of invasions around the world • The processes and pathways involved in invasion • Management of introduced species

The Amazon forest is one of the world's most complex, unknown and threatened ecosystems that holds a considerable part of the Earth's biodiversity. This ecosystem needs greater scientific attention so that we can better understand the features of its fauna and conserve species before they become extinct. Thus, this book addresses issues about resources within Earth's largest rainforest. In addition, the knowledge of the molluscs in the Amazon region is extremely scarce, and in most cases only information concerning their spatial distribution is available. Specifically, for the gastropods of the Pomacea genus, which were introduced in every continent and became known as pests, scientific knowledge in native areas is very important to understand. Research may help to control these organisms and the many areas they tend to invade. Specialists and scientists that work with apple snails in the Amazon and around the world can access new information about the species that inhabit this region with unprecedented advances in various scientific aspects such as diversity and occurrence, anatomy aspects of Pomacea in Peru, and phylogeny of this group in the Amazon region. Information about the biological aspects such as imposex development, effects of the dry season duration in the gastropod growth, aquaculture technical to human food production, and reproduction (including oviposition, fecundity, substrate selection, ultrastructural view of spermatozoa and egg predation). All of this is synthesized to bring the reader an informative compilation of data and research focusing on apple snails of the Amazon. Target Audience: This book will be relevant to researchers that work with apple snails in Amazon region and others locations around the world, mainly in areas which gastropods are a pests. Besides information about culture techniques and meat quality of Amazon Apple Snails are available, and are very important to culture of these gastropods in large scale to human food. Chapters related to biodiversity, ecology and biology of apple snails also be very useful. Information about parasites that use these gastropods as a host, is also present in this book, and will help to understand the life cycle of these organisms. The information about apple snails in Amazon region is rare, so this book will contribute to improve the knowledge about this freshwater mollusk.

during aestivation. (Abstract shortened with permission of author.)

Provides the aquarist with complete information about the care, maintenance and breeding of ampullariidae (apple snails) and other aquarium snails together with an insight into their biology and ecology