Unio turtoni is a species of medium-sized freshwater mussel, an aquatic bivalve mollusk in the family Unionidae, the river mussels.
'Amphibios', in greek, means to live in both water and land. Therefore organisms that can survive both in water and land are said to have an amphibious nature.
The scientific name Asteroidea was given to starfish by the French zoologist de Blainville in 1830. It is derived from the Greek aster, ?στήρ (a star) and the Greek eidos, ε?δος (form, likeness, appearance). The class Asteroidea belongs to the phylum Echinodermata.
Osphradium is an olfactory organ present in certain molluscs/Pila. It is linked with the respiration organ. It is a chemoreceptor. It is located near the left nuchal opening. It sense the incoming water for silt and possible food particles.
pallial complex: (Mollusca) All of the organs of the mantle cavity combined (ctenidia, osphradia, anus, renal and genital openings and glands).
The osphradium is an olfactory organ in certain molluscs, linked with the respiration organ. The main function of this organ is thought to be to test incoming water for silt and possible food particles.
DIGESTIVE SYSTEM AND PROCESS OF DIGESTION IN PILA GLOBOSA (APPLE SNAIL)
- Mouth: At the anterior end of the head mouth is present.
- Buccal cavity: Its walls are made by thick muscles.
- Oesophagus: Buccal cavity opens into oesophagus.
- Stomach: Oesophagus opens into stomach.
5. Respiratory Organs of Pila Globosa: The respiratory organs consist of a single ctenidium or gill, a pulmonary sac or lung and a pair of nuchal lobes.
Pila utilises atmospheric oxygen by a pulmonary sac. It is a closed sac excepting an opening on the roof of the mantle. The dorsal wall of this sac is highly vascular and helps in gaseous exchange.
The mantle (also known by the Latin word pallium meaning mantle, robe or cloak, adjective pallial) is a significant part of the anatomy of molluscs: it is the dorsal body wall which covers the visceral mass and usually protrudes in the form of flaps well beyond the visceral mass itself.
They could give you rat lungworm
The snails aren't just gross to look at, they can also carry some nasty parasites that could impact humans. Apple snails also serve as hosts of multiple disease-causing critters, including the rat ringworm, intestinal fluke, and the human endoparasite rat lungworm.That's because the snails could eat their food source or their home. Another problem, Apple Snails lay sacks of pink eggs so many can hatch. Martin says the snails are toxic, carrying a deadly parasite called Rat Lungworm. If ingested they could be deadly.
The snails are better protected against shell damage during transport this way and as apple snails can stay out of the water for days to weeks without problems (they are air-breathers with a shell door), this method is easy and safe.
Mystery Apple Snails will consume most types of algae, but you most commonly find them eating plant algae, substrate algae and aquarium glass algae.
To take care of an apple snail, keep it in a 10-gallon tank that's filled with 2 inches of aquarium gravel or pebbles. Then, fill the tank with clean water, and bury a few aquatic plants in the gravel, like java moss or water wisteria.
What is apple snail lifespan? It highly depends on the snail tank conditions and temperature. At low temperature golden mystery snails live up to 3 years, at temperature from 25°C (77 F) the snail lives only about 12-16 month. At higher temperatures snails are more active, they grow faster and breed.
They are not all the same. Most mystery snails are apple snails but not all apple snails are mystery snails. All of those snails have actual species names. To this day though, many aquarium stores sell "mystery snails." Most of those are, in fact, species of apple snail.
Apple snail eggs are unusual anyway insofar that they're brightly-coloured, pink-reddish in the case of P. canaliculata, and deposited outside of the water, characters that not only make them visible but also vulnerable to both predators and parasites.
Apple snails are not selective and eat almost everything available in their environment. In general they prefer soft and digestible vegetation. The species with thin and small teeth (like Pomacea diffusa) are unable to penetrate the tougher vegetation and specialise in death and soft plants.
