Pomacea canaliculata, commonly known as the golden apple snail or the channeled apple snail, is a species of large freshwater snail with gills and an operculum, an aquaticgastropodmollusc in the family Ampullariidae, the apple snails.
South American in origin, this species is considered to be in the top 100 of the "World's Worst InvasiveAlien Species".[2] It is also ranked as the 40th worst alien species in Europe and the worst alien species of gastropod in Europe.[3]
The native distribution of P. canaliculata is basically tropical and subtropical,[4] including Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Brazil.[5] The southernmost record for the species is Paso de las Piedras reservoir, south of the Buenos Aires province, Argentina.[6]
Drawing of the animal and the shell of Pomacea canaliculata
Moving North, the Government of Alberta has labelled channeled apple snails as an invasive species.[12] Alberta's Minister of Environment and Protected Areas Rebecca Schulz, alongside the Alberta Invasive Species Council, is working hard to make Alberta invasive species free, which includes addressing the issue of channeled apple snails.
The species has been found in China since 1981.[13] Its initial point of distribution in China was Zhongshan city.[14]
The species has been found in Chile since 2009 with a restricted distribution.[15]
The species has also been found in the Philippines, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Papua New Guinea, parts of Indonesia and Malaysia, Singapore, and Guam. In 1980, the apple snail was introduced to south-east Asia as a food item and aquarium pet. First, it was introduced to Taiwan, then Japan, then Thailand and the Philippines. Instead of catching on, snails were released or escaped and have become a major agricultural pest.[16]
The shells of these applesnails are globular in shape. Normal coloration typically includes bands of brown, black, and yellowish-tan; color patterns are extremely variable. Albino and gold color variations exist.[18][11]
The size of the shell is up to 150 millimetres (6 in) in length.[11]
Pomacea canaliculata egg masses are typically laid on emergent vegetation over freshwater bodies of water.
This species lives in freshwater lake, river, pond and swamp habitats and tolerates a wide range of temperatures.[19] In natural settings, they rely on grasses and other emergent vegetation growing along the perimeter of bodies of water to lay their eggs. Where invasive, they can utilize crops such as rice and taro as a substrate for reproduction.[20]
Pomacea canaliculata is extremely polyphagous, feeding on vegetal (primarily macrophytophagous, feeding on floating or submersed higher plants), detrital, and animal matter. Diet may vary with age, with younger smaller individuals feeding on algae and detritus, and older, bigger (15 millimetres (19⁄32in) and above) individuals later shifting to higher plants.[21]
This species negatively impacts rice and taro agriculture worldwide where it has been introduced.[11]
The egg masses of Pomacea canaliculata are a bright pink or orange in colorEggs of Pomacea canaliculata, scale bar in cm (25⁄64in).
In temperate climates, the egg-laying period of this species extends from early spring to early fall.[22] while in tropical areas reproduction is continuous. The duration of the reproductive period of P. canaliculata decreases with latitude, to a minimum of six months in the southern limit of its natural distribution.[6] Adult females oviposit on emergent vegetation at night, but will also lay their eggs on rocks and manmade surfaces like boats. Once laid, the eggs take approximately two weeks to hatch, during which time the bright pink or orange coloration of the eggs fades.[23]
First direct evidence (of all animals), that proteinase inhibitor from eggs of Pomacea canaliculata interacts as trypsin inhibitor with protease of potential predators, has been reported in 2010.[24]
The snail kite, Rostrhamus sociabilis, is a predator of this species in South America. The fire ant, Solenopsis geminata, has also been observed to prey upon this species.[25]
Crude cyclotide extracts from both Oldenlandia affinis and Viola odorata plants showed molluscicidal activity comparable to the synthetic molluscicide metaldehyde.[27] Because submerging developing eggs below the water reduces hatching success, manipulating the water level in agricultural fields and dammed reservoirs may provide a tool for controlling invasive populations.[23]
This species is edible. Pomacea canaliculata constitutes one of the three predominant freshwater snails found in Chinese markets.[28] In China and Southeast Asia, consumption of raw or undercooked snails of Pomacea canaliculata and other snails is the primary route of infection with Angiostrongylus cantonensis causing angiostrongyliasis.[26]
InIsan, Thailand these snails are collected and consumed. They are picked by hand or with a hand-net from canals, swamps, ponds, and flooded paddy fields during the rainy season. During the dry season when these snails are concealed under dried mud, collectors use a spade to scrape the mud in order to find them. The snails are usually collected by women and children.[29] After collection, the snails are cleaned and parboiled. They are then taken out of their shells, cut, and cleaned in salted water. After rinsing with water, they are mixed with roasted rice, dried chili pepper, lime juice, and fish sauce, and then eaten.[29]
Some French restaurants are trying to use Pomacea canaliculata as an alternative to escargot.[30] After boiling, remove Pomacea canaliculata guts and eggs. Washing only the muscular body with vinegar will eliminate the odor. As a result, it can be used as an alternative to escargot.[31]
In some paddy fields in Japan, Pomacea canaliulata is used to control weeds by allowing the snail to eat them. However, this method runs risk of the snails also eating young rice plants, and of spreading to nearby fields and waterways as an invasive pest.[34][35][36]
^Ihering H. (1919). "Las especies de Ampullaria' en la Argentina". I Reunión Nac Soc Arg Cs Nat (Actas): 329-350, Tucumán, Argentina.
^Cowie R, Thiengo SC. "The apple snails of the Americas (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Ampullariidae: Asolene, Felipponea, Marisa, Pomacea, Pomella): a nomenclatural and type catalog". Malacologia. 45 (1): 41–100.
^ abMartín PR, Estebenet AL, Cazzaniga NJ (2001). "Factors affecting the distribution of Pomacea canaliculata (Gastropoda: Ampullariidae) along its southernmost natural limit". Malacologia. 43 (1–2): 13–23.
^Howells, R. Personal communication. Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. In: United States Geological Survey. 2008. Pomacea canaliculata. USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database, Gainesville, FL. Revision Date: 2/4/2008
^Wada T, Matsukura K (December 2007). "Seasonal Changes in Cold Hardiness of the Invasive Freshwater Apple Snail, Pomacea canaliculata (Lamarck) (Gastropoda: Ampullariidae)". Malacologia. 49 (2): 383–392. doi:10.4002/0076-2997-49.2.383. S2CID85173507.
^Estebenet AL, Martín PR (April 2002). "Pomacea canaliculata (Gastropoda: Ampullariidae): life-history traits and their plasticity". Biocell. 26 (1): 83–9. PMID12058384.
^Bachmann A (October 1960). "Apuntes para una hidrobiología argentina. II. Ampullaria insularum Orb. y A. canaliculata Lam.(Moll. Prosobr., Ampullaridae). Observaciones biológicas y ecológicas". Actas y Trabajos Primer Congreso Sudamericano de Zoología. 1. La Plata, Argentina: 19–24.
^ abIsmail SN, Abdul Wahab NI, Mansor M (2018). "Behavioural study of the golden apple snail (Pomacea canaliculata) in a Tropical Lake, Chenderoh Reservoir, Malaysia". Lakes & Reservoirs: Science, Policy and Management for Sustainable Use. 23 (3): 256–260. Bibcode:2018LRRM...23..256I. doi:10.1111/lre.12223. ISSN1440-1770. S2CID91175186.
^Plan MR, Saska I, Cagauan AG, Craik DJ "Backbone cyclised peptides from plants show molluscicidal activity against the rice pest Pomacea canaliculata (golden apple snail)." J Agric Food Chem. 2008 Jul 9;56(13):5237-41
^Lv S., Zhang Y., Steinmann P. &, Zhou X.-N. (2008). "Emerging angiostrongyliasis in mainland China". Emerging Infectious Diseases14(1): 161–164. HTM.
^イッチ (16 August 2019). "田んぼのジャンボタニシについて". icchinosora.com (in Japanese). Retrieved 25 April 2022.
^Wood TS, Anurakpongsatorn P, Chaichana R, Mahujchariyawong J, Satapanajaru T (May 2006). "Heavy predation on freshwater bryozoans by the golden apple snail, Pomacea canaliculata Lamarck, 1822 (Ampullariidae). Tropical Natural History". The Natural History Journal of Chulalongkorn University. 6 (1): 31–6.
Cowie RH, Kalo ON, et al. (IUCN/SSC Invasive Species Specialist Group (ISSG)) (13 April 2005). "Pomacea canaliculata". Global Invasive Species Database.
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