Vol. 58, 2019

(update: 2019.05.23; 07.02)
 

A New Species of Apple Snail in the Genus Pomacea (Gastropoda: Caenogastropoda: Ampullariidae)

Qian-Qian Yang¹ and Xiao-Ping Yu^1,*

¹Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Biometrology and Inspection & Quarantine, College of Life Sciences, China Jiliang University, Hangzhou 310018, China. *Correspondence: Tel: +86-571-86836006. Fax: +86-571-87676267E-mail: yxp@cjlu.edu.cn. E-mail: yqq@cjlu.edu.cn (Yang)

Received 10 April 2019 / Accepted 19 May 2019
Communicated by Benny K.K. Chan

Pomacea canaliculata and Pomacea maculata, two species of freshwater apple snails native to South America, have been introduced to and become invasive in many tropical wetlands around the world. Among their invaded regions in mainland China, we discovered a new species (Pomacea occulta nov. sp.), which has > 5.8% inter-specific genetic divergence with its closely-related species. The present study provides a morphological description of this new species. This new species can be distinguished from the other recognized species of Pomacea by a combination of the following features: a thick shell with generally smooth, fine axial growth lines and frequent periodic growth arrests, an angulated body whorl shoulder, and a yellow-orange-red inner pallial lip; a flexible operculum, thinning dorsally towards the edge; broad kidney anterior leaflets and posterior leaflets with a deep tapering cleft; a concave rachidian base; a penis sheath with apical and medial glands, with the medial gland located in the sheath channel; and 87 to ~1000 eggs per clutch, an average egg diameter of 2.38 mm, a mean hatching height of 2.23 mm, and a mean first whorl width of 1-day-old hatchlings of 2.11 mm.

Key words: Invasive species, Freshwater snail, Morphology, Taxonomy.

Citation: Yang QQ, Yu XP. 2019. A new species of apple snail in the genus Pomacea (Gastropoda: Caenogastropoda: Ampullariidae). Zool Stud 58:13. doi:10.6620/ZS.2019.58-13.