Chinese mystery snail
| Chinese mystery snail | |
|---|---|
 |
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| A live individual of Bellamya chinensis, out of water | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| (unranked): |
clade Caenogastropoda informal group Architaenioglossa |
| Superfamily: | Viviparoidea |
| Family: | Viviparidae |
| Subfamily: | Bellamyinae |
| Genus: | Bellamya |
| Species: | B. chinensis |
| Binomial name | |
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Bellamya chinensis (Gray, 1834) |
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| Synonyms | |
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informal group Architaenioglossa
The Chinese mystery snail, black snail, or trapdoor snail, scientific name Bellamya chinensis, synonym Cipangopaludina chinensis, is a large freshwater snail with gills and an operculum, an aquatic gastropod mollusk in the family Viviparidae. The Japanese variety of this species is black and usually a dark green, moss-like alga covers the shell.
The name, "trapdoor snail" refers the operculum, an oval corneous plate that most snails in this clade possess. When the soft parts of the snail are fully retracted, the operculum seals the aperture of the shell, providing some protection against drying out and predation.
Taxonomy of the introduced populations of Oriental mystery snails is confusing and there are many scientific names in use. There has also been debate regarding whether or not Cipangopaludina chinensis malleata and Cipangopaludina japonica in North America are synonymous and simply different phenotypes of the same species. For example USGS database considers the two as separate species. Smith (2000) argues that Cipangopaludina is a subgenus of Bellamya; however, because most North American literature does not use the genus Bellamya to refer to these introduced snails, Oriental mystery snails discussed here are referred to by the name Cipangopaludina. Literature cited in the USGS database regarding the Chinese mystery snail may employ the following names: Cipangopaludina chinensis, Cipangopaludina chinensis malleatus, Cipangopaludina chinensis malleata, Viviparus malleatus, Viviparus chinensis malleatus, Bellamya chinensis and Bellamya chinensis malleatus.
Though native to East Asia from the tropics of Indochina to northern China, this species has established itself in North America.
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Wikipedia