Колумбийский улиткообразный яблочный моллюск: описание и распространение.

Species of gastropod

Marisa cornuarietis, common name the Colombian ramshorn apple snail, is a species of large freshwater snail with an operculum, an aquatic gastropod mollusc in the family Ampullariidae, the apple snail family. These snails are popular in aquariums, and are also used in the wild as a biological control agent.

It is widespread in northern South America, although the type locality is unknown. It is considered as about the 74th the worst alien species in Europe.

Although Marisa snails superficially resemble the great ramshorn snail because of the planispiral coiling of their shells, they are not at all closely related to true ramshorn snails in the family Planorbidae. This is an easily recognizable species: the shell is flat coiled (planispiral). Marisa cornuarietis is one of about 120 species belonging to the family Ampullariidae, also known as the apple snail family (and sometimes called Pilidae). These apple snails are commonly sold in pet stores under the misleading names "giant ramshorn snail" and "Colombian ramshorn snail". Oftentimes "Columbian" is used, which is a mistake, as this implies the animal was named after Christopher Columbus, which it was not. This species is native to Colombia. Marisa cornuarietis is usually purchased intentionally from pet stores, whereas true ramshorn snails (family Planorbidae) are very often considered to be aquarium pests, acquired accidentally, clinging to leaves of aquatic plants. These apple snails grow to be much larger than the true ramshorn snails, and they consume large amounts of plant matter. This means they are not suitable for the planted aquarium.

Marisa cornuarietis is used as a biological control to reduce the number of Biomphalaria snails, which are intermediate hosts to the disease Schistosomiasis. Schistosoma larvae (cercariae), namely of Schistosoma haematobium, enter and develop inside the Biomphlaria, to form miracidium, which can penetrate through skin to enter the human body. Marisa cornuarietis compete with the Biomphalaria vectors for food. They also eat the eggs of Biomphalaria, thereby effectively reducing the chances of Schistosomia being spread. The potential ecological impacts of this species in North America were reviewed by Howells et al. in 2006. The snail has been released in some areas in an attempt to control the invasive aquatic plant genus Hydrilla. and CC BY 2.0 text from the reference.