Apple snails (Pomacea canaliculata) are tropical and sub-tropical freshwater snails. They are named for their round shell, which is apple shaped, technically referred to as a globose shell. They are particularly well adaped to areas which experience alternating drought and deluge; they possess a shell door which allows them to close their shell to prevent drying out during droughts. Scientific classification - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins/monobook/IE50Fixes. ... Phyla Porifera (sponges) Ctenophora (comb jellies) Cnidaria Placozoa Bilateria Acoelomorpha Orthonectida Rhombozoa ?Myxozoa Superphylum Deuterostomia    Chordata (vertebrates, etc. ... Phyla Radiata Cnidaria Ctenophora - Comb jellies Bilateria Protostomia Acoelomorpha Platyhelminthes - Flatworms Nemertina - Ribbon worms Gastrotricha Gnathostomulida - Jawed worms Micrognathozoa Rotifera - Rotifers Acanthocephala Priapulida Kinorhyncha Loricifera Entoprocta Nematoda - Roundworms Nematomorpha - Horsehair worms Cycliophora Mollusca - Mollusks Sipuncula - Peanut worms Annelida - Segmented worms Tardigrada - Water bears Onychophora - Velvet worms Arthropoda - Insects, etc. ... Classes Caudofoveata Aplacophora Polyplacophora - Chitons Monoplacophora Bivalvia - Bivalves Scaphopoda - Tusk shells Gastropoda - Snails and Slugs Cephalopoda - Squids, Octopuses, etc. ... Subclass Subclass Eogastropoda     Patellogastropoda Subclass Orthogastropoda   Superorder Cocculiniformia   Superorder Hot Vent Taxa     Neomphaolida   Superorder Vetigastropoda   Superorder Neritaemorphi     Neritopsina   Superorder Caenogastropoda     Architaenioglossa     Sorbeoconcha   Superorder Heterobranchia     Heterostropha     Opisthobranchia     Pulmonata The gastropods, or univalves, are the largest and most successful class of mollusks, with 60,000-75,000 species, and second largest class... Pomacea canaliculata with extended siphon. ...

Unlike many other freshwater gastropods, Apple Snails have both a lung and a gill. This allows them to live even in oxygen-poor waters. Apple snails are found in stagnant pools such as swamps and rice paddies. They feed on both plants and crustaceans with their radula, a u-shaped row of teeth. A characteristic feature of apple snails is its siphon, a tube like organ used to breath through while submerged. The heart in relation to the lungs (from an older edition of Grays Anatomy) This x-ray of the human chest shows the lungs as dark regions The lung is an organ belonging to the respiratory system and interfacing to the circulatory system of air-breathing vertebrates. ... In aquatic organisms, gills are a respiratory organ for the extraction of oxygen from water and for the excretion of carbon dioxide. ... Classes Remipedia Cephalocarida Branchiopoda Ostracoda Maxillopoda Malacostraca The crustaceans (Crustacea) are a large group of arthropods (55,000 species), usually treated as a subphylum. ... siphon principle A siphon is a continuous tube that allows liquid to drain from a reservoir through an intermediate point that is higher than the reservoir. ...

Apple snails are edible by humans but must be cooked thoroughly to prevent the possibility of transferring parasites. A parasite is an organism that lives in or on the living tissue of a host organism at the expense of that host. ...

Introduction of foreign species of apple snails into new habitats can be very destructive to the native ecology.

External links

• Apple Snails .net web page (http://www.applesnail.net)
• ISSG Database (http://www.issg.org/database/species/ecology.asp?si=135&fr=1)