Pseudosuccinea columella

Pseudosuccinea columella
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Superorder:	Hygrophila
Family:	Lymnaeidae
Genus:	Pseudosuccinea
Species:	P. columella
Binomial name
Pseudosuccinea columella (Say, 1817)[1]
Synonyms[3]
Lymnaea columella Say, 1817 Lymnaea ubaquensis Piaget, 1914[2]

Pseudosuccinea columella , the American ribbed fluke snail, is a species of air-breathing freshwater snail, an aquatic pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Lymnaeidae, the pond snails.

This snail is an intermediate host for Fasciola hepatica, the liver fluke, a parasite of livestock, especially sheep.^[4]

Pseudosuccinea columella is native to North America.^[5] and Europe.^[6] The indigenous distribution of Pseudosuccinea columella reaches from New Brunswick and south Manitoba throughout the eastern US to Central and South America.^[7]

The exact type locality for this species is unknown, but it is somewhere in the Philadelphia area, US.^[8]

This snail has been introduced to Australia^[5] and Europe.^[6]

The non-indigenous distribution of Pseudosuccinea columella includes:

• western US^[7] (distribution map in the US)
• Puerto Rico^[8]
• Venezuela^[8]
• Brazil:^[8] Rio Grande do Sul^[9]
• Argentina^[8]
• Australia^[5][7]
• South Africa^[7][10] – since 1942^[8]
• Zimbabwe ^{[11] [12] [13]}
• other countries in Africa^[8]
• Pacific islands^[8]

Europe:

• Switzerland (Basel)^[7]
• Austria (Villach)^[7]
• Hungary^[7]
• Greece (Nómos Florina)^[7]
• Menorca^[7] (a Spanish island)
• France – in the wild^[8]
• Portugal, Madeira Island – in the wild^[14]
• Czech Republic as a "hothouse alien"^[15]
• Latvia as a "hothouse alien"^[16]

The shell quite closely resembles shells in the genus Succinea, which belongs to a different family.

The shell of Pseudosuccinea columella is horny brown, thin, translucent, fragile and very finely striated. The apex is pointed. The shell has 3.5–4 weakly convex whorls with a shallow suture. The last whorl predominates. The aperture is ovate. The upper palatal margin descends steeply. The columellar margin is reflected only at its upper section; the lower columellar margin sharp and straight.^[7]

The width of the shell is 8–13 mm. The height of the shell is 15–20 mm.^[7]

The animal is dusky with whitish spots. The eyes are small and black and are located at the inner base of the tentacles.^[7]

The haploid number of chromosomes is 18 (n=18).^[17]

In North America, Pseudosuccinea columella lives in stagnant waters, at the edges of lakes, ponds, muddy and sluggish streams, among lily pads and reeds on sticks and mud.^[7]

In Europe it occurs predominantly in greenhouses, but also sometimes in outdoor habitats (Austria, Hungary).^[7] It needs warm water and does not survive Central European winter temperatures.^[7] It is also found above the water on floating leaves of aquatic plants; in northern Greece it was found in a spring near a road.^[7]

Parasites of Pseudosuccinea columella include:

• In North America, Pseudosuccinea columella is major intermediate host of Fasciola hepatica.^[4][18]
• The species also serve as a snail host for Fascioloides magna.^[19]
• Also serves as host for Fasciola gigantica ^[20] & Fasciola nyanzae ^{[21] [22]}
• Also serves as a host for the cercariae of the trematode Telorchis sp.^[23]

This article incorporates public domain text from the reference ^[7]

Media related to Pseudosuccinea columella at Wikimedia Commons