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Pomacea paludosa

(Say, 1829)

Florida Applesnail

G5Secure Found in 1 roadless area NatureServe Explorer →
G5SecureGlobal Rank
LowThreat Impact
Identity
Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.1265719
Element CodeIMGASF2070
Record TypeSPECIES
ClassificationSpecies
Classification StatusStandard
Name CategoryInvertebrate Animal
Endemicoccurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations
KingdomAnimalia
PhylumMollusca
ClassGastropoda
OrderArchitaenioglossa
FamilyAmpullariidae
GenusPomacea
Concept Reference
Hayes K.A., R.H. Cowie, S.C. Thiengo, and E.E. Strong. 2012. Comparing apples with apples: clarifying the identities of two highly invasive Neotropical Ampullariidae (Caenogastropoda). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 166: 723-753
Taxonomic Comments
Includes Pomacea miamiensis as a synonym (MolluscaBase 2022). The taxonomic status of Pomacea miamiensis has long been questioned in the literature (see Clench and Turner 1956; Turgeon et al. 1998; Burch 1982,1989; Thompson 1999).
Conservation Status
Rank Method Rank calculation - Biotics v2
Review Date2022-12-30
Change Date2022-12-30
Edition Date2022-12-30
Edition AuthorsCordeiro, J. (2008), minor rev. M. Ormes (2022)
Threat ImpactLow
Range Extent200,000-2,500,000 square km (about 80,000-1,000,000 square miles)
Number of Occurrences> 300
Rank Reasons
This species has a wide distribution, presumed large population, tolerance of a broad range of habitats, tolerance to habitat modification, lack of substantial immediate threats, and does not appear to be declining.
Range Extent Comments
This species is widely distributed throughout the Florida peninsula and occurring sporadically west of the Suwannee River into the panhandle to the Choctawhatchee River. and north into Georgia in to the Flint and Ocmulgee River Drainages, USA (Thompson 1984, Benson and Morningstar 2022). It is also found in Cuba and Hispaniola (Benson and Morningstar 2022, Pointier et al. 2005). It has been introduced extensively into Pacific Islands (including Hawaii) and southeast Asia (Thompson 1999); also Alabama, South Carolina, and other southeastern states (Benson and Morningstar 2022).
Occurrences Comments
In Alabama it is restricted to Gulf Coast drainages (Mirarchi 2004). Clench and Turner (1956) include the Suwannee (Santa Fe drainage in Florida, Suwannee drainage in Florida), Econfina (Florida), St. Marks (Wakulla drainage in Florida), Apalachicola (Flint drainage in Georgia, Chipola drainage in Florida), and Choctawhatchee (Holmes Creek drainage in Florida) River systems.
Threat Impact Comments
Localized threats may exist, but on a range-wide scale no major threats are known.
Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

It inhabits permanent water bodies and can resist acid waters since it has been found as the only mollusk species occurring in places where pH values are under 6. It is associated with aquatic vegetation that emerge from the water surface (Pointier et al., 2005).
Palustrine Habitats
HERBACEOUS WETLAND
Other Nations (1)
United StatesNNR
ProvinceRankNative
FloridaS5Yes
AlabamaS3Yes
North CarolinaSNANo
GeorgiaS2Yes
South CarolinaSNANo
HawaiiSNANo
Threat Assessments
ThreatScopeSeverityTiming
No known threats———

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Roadless Areas (1)
Florida (1)
AreaForestAcres
Alexander Springs CreekOcala National Forest2,954
References (14)
  1. Benson, A.J. and C.R. Morningstar. 2022. <i>Pomacea paludos</i>a: U.S. Geological Survey, Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database, Gainesville, FL, https://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/factsheet.aspx?SpeciesID=985, Revision Date: 11/18/2020, Access Date: 12/30/2022
  2. Burch, J.B. 1982. Freshwater Snails (Mollusca: Gastropoda) of North America. Environmental Monitoring and Support Laboratory, Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati, Ohio. 294 pp.
  3. Burch, J.B. 1989. North American Freshwater Snails. Malacological Publications: Hamburg, Michigan. 365 pp.
  4. Clench, W. J. and R. D. Turner. 1956. Freshwater mollusks of Alabama, Georgia, and Florida from the Escambia to the Suwanee River. Bulletin of the Florida State Museum Biological Sciences 1(3):97-239.
  5. Cowie, R.H. and S.C. Thiengo. 2003. The apple snails of the Americas (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Ampullariidae: Asolene, Felipponea, Marisa, Pomacea, Pomella): a nomenclatural and type catalog. Malacologia. 45(1): 41-100.
  6. Hayes K.A., R.H. Cowie, S.C. Thiengo, and E.E. Strong. 2012. Comparing apples with apples: clarifying the identities of two highly invasive Neotropical Ampullariidae (Caenogastropoda). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 166: 723-753
  7. iNaturalist. 2022. Online. Available: https://www.inaturalist.org (accessed 2022).
  8. Mirarchi, R.E., et al. 2004a. Alabama Wildlife. Volume One: A Checklist of Vertebrates and Selected Invertebrates: Aquatic Mollusks, Fishes, Amphibians, Reptiles, Birds, and Mammals. University of Alabama Press: Tuscaloosa, Alabama. 209 pp.
  9. MolluscaBase eds. 2022. MolluscaBase. Accessed at https://www.molluscabase.org.
  10. Pointier, J.-P., M. Yong, and A. Gutierrez. 2005. Guide to the Freshwater Molluscs of Cuba. ConchBooks: Hackenheim, Germany. 120 pp.
  11. Thompson, F.G. 1997. <i>Pomacea canaliculata</i> (Lamarck 1822) (Gastropoda, Prosobranchia, Pilidae): A freshwater snail introduced into Florida, U.S.A. Malacological Review, 30: 91.
  12. Thompson, F.G. 1999. An identification manual for the freshwater snails of Florida. Walkerana 10(23): 1-96.
  13. Turgeon, D. D., J. F. Quinn, Jr., A. E. Bogan, E. V. Coan, F. G. Hochberg, W. G. Lyons, P. M. Mikkelsen, R. J. Neves, C. F. E. Roper, G. Rosenberg, B. Roth, A. Scheltema, F. G. Thompson, M. Vecchione, and J. D. Williams. 1998. Common and scientific names of aquatic invertebrates from the United States and Canada: Mollusks. 2nd Edition. American Fisheries Society Special Publication 26, Bethesda, Maryland. 526 pp.
  14. Turner, R.L. and P.M. Mikkelsen. 2004. Annotated bibliography of the Florida applesnail, <i>Pomacea paludosa</i> (Say) (Gastropoda: Ampullariidae), from 1824 to 1999. Nemouria 48: 1-188.