Pila wernei

Pila wernei
Shell of Pila wernei
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Caenogastropoda
Order:	Architaenioglossa
Family:	Ampullariidae
Genus:	Pila
Species:	P. wernei
Binomial name
Pila wernei (Philippi, 1851)
Synonyms
Ampullaria chariensisGermain, 1905 Ampullaria chevalieriGermain, 1904 Ampullaria dumesnilianaBillotte, 1885 Ampullaria gordoni var. volkensi E. von Martens, 1897 Ampullaria leopoldvillensisPutzeys, 1898 junior subjective synonym Ampullaria werneiR. A. Philippi, 1851 superseded combination

Pila wernei, common name the large African apple snail, is a species of gastropod belonging to the family Ampullariidae, the apple snails. ^{[1] [2]}

Description

(Original description in Latin) The shell is large, subglobose, and narrowly umbilicate. It is smooth, shining, and obsoletely multifasciated. The epidermis appears beautifully olive-colored. The whorls are rounded and depressed at the suture. The spire nearly equals one-fourth of the total height. The aperture is ovate-oblong and semilunar. The peristome is broadly thickened, and the throat is purplish and multifasciated.

(Further description originally in German) The shell is spherically ovate, solid, smooth, and shining, although growth lines make it appear wrinkled here and there. There are 5.5 whorls, which are almost cylindrical, but almost horizontal at the suture. The spire occupies about one-fourth of the total height, though this ratio, as well as the ratio between the height and width of the shell, varies a little. The umbilicus is narrow but extends through to the apex.

The aperture is oblong-ovate, and it appears crescent-shaped due to the inward projection of the body whorl. The peristome is quite broad but only moderately thickened internally; the free columellar margin is slightly reflected back over the suture, and is as long as the attached part of the left peristome or the actual inner lip.

The shell displays narrow, reddish-brown bands; however, these do not show through the thick olive-green or olive-brown epidermis and are mostly only visible internally. The thickened peristome is sometimes greenish-white, sometimes yellow. The operculum is calcareous, very thick, bluish, matches the shape of the shell's aperture, and is narrower than that of Pila globosa . ^[3]

Distribution

The species is found in Africa. ^[2]

References

1. Pila wernei(R. A. Philippi, 1851) . 5 June 2025. Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species .
2. "Pila wernei (Philippi, 1851)". www.gbif.org. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
3. Philippi, R.A. (1851–1852). Die Gattung Ampullaria. In Abbildungen nach der Natur mit Beschreibungen. In: Schuberth, G. H.; Wagner, J. A., Eds. Systematisches Conchylien-Cabinet von Martini und Chemnitz. Neu herausgegeben und vervollständigt. Ersten Bandes zwanzigste Abtheilung. Nürnberg: Bauer & Raspe. p. 29. Retrieved 5 June 2025. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .

• Putzeys [S.]. (1898). Diagnose d'une coquille nouvelle provenant de l'état indépendant du Congo. Annales de la Société royale malacologique de Belgique. 33 (Bulletin des séances), xc–xci.
• Connolly, M. (1939). A monographic survey of South African non-marine Mollusca. Annals of the South African Museum. 33: 1-660.
• Bacci, G. (1951). Elementi per una malacofauna dell'Abissinia e della Somalia. Annali del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale Giacomo Doria, 65: 1-145. Genova.page(s): 55

External links

• Martens, E. von (1897). Beschalte Weichthiere Deutsch-Ost-Afrikas. In: Möbius, K.: Deutsch-Ostafrika. 4: i-v. Berlin: Dietrich Reimer. p. 157. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
• Germain, L. (1904). "Note préliminaire sur les Mollusques recuellis par les membres de la Mission A. Chevalier, dans la région du Tchad et le bassin du Chari". Bulletin du Muséum d'histoire naturelle. 10: 469.
• Germain, L. (1905). "Contributions à la faune malacologique de l'Afrique équatoriale". Bulletin du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle. 11 (6): 487.