Pomacea lineata

Pomacea lineata is a species of a freshwater snail with gills and an operculum, an aquatic gastropod mollusk in the family Ampullariidae, the apple snails.

Pomacea lineata
Apertural view of a shell of Pomacea lineata
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Caenogastropoda
Order:	Architaenioglossa
Family:	Ampullariidae
Genus:	Pomacea
Species:	P. lineata
Binomial name
Pomacea lineata (Spix, 1827)

Distribution

This species occurs in Brazil.

Apical view of a shell of Pomacea lineata

Ecology

The apple snail is a keystone species in Pantanal's ecosystem. When the wetlands are flooded once a year, the grass and other plants will eventually die and start to decay. During this process, decomposing microbes deplete the shallow water of all oxygen, suffocating larger decomposers. Unlike other decomposing animals, the apple snail have both gills and lungs, making it possible for them to thrive in anoxic waters where they recycle the nutrients. To get oxygen they extend a long snorkel to the water surface, and pumps air into their lungs. This ability allows them to consume all the dead plant matter and turning it into nutritious fertilizer available for the plants in the area. The snails themselves are also food for a variety of animals.^[2][3][4]

Human use

Pomacea lineata is used as a zootherapeutical product for the treatment of asthma, sprains, boils and ulcer in traditional Brazilian medicine in the Northeast of Brazil.^[5]