Freshwater Snail | Gastropod | Britannica

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External Websites

• Frontiers - Biochemical and molecular responses of the freshwater snail Pila sp. to environmental pollutants, abiotic, and biotic stressors
• BMC - Parasites and Vectors - Environmental and biotic factors affecting freshwater snail intermediate hosts in the Ethiopian Rift Valley region
• Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University - VTechWorks - Sustaining America�s Aquatic Biodiversity Freshwater Snail Biodiversity and Conservation
• Ward's Science - Freshwater Snail
• The Royal Society Publishing - Journal of The Royal Society Interface - Freshwater snail feeding: lubrication-based particle collection on the water surface
• Florida Museum - Invertebrate Zoology - Freshwater Snails of Florida ID Guide
• Freshwater Mollusk Conservation Society - Freshwater Snails

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freshwater snail, any of the approximately 5,000 snail species that live in lakes, ponds, rivers, and streams. Most are members of the subclass Pulmonata, which also includes the terrestrial snails and slugs, but some are members of the subclass Prosobranchia; both subclasses belong to the class Gastropoda. The southeastern United States has the greatest number of species; another notable location is Lake Tanganyika, in Africa.

Related Topics: snail pond snail Viviparacea Lymnaeidae (Show more) See all related content

Freshwater snails are dispersed between isolated bodies of water via birds’ feet, wind-blown leaves, and floods. Several species are hosts to a variety of parasitic flatworm species (called trematodes) that cause disease in humans and other warm-blooded animals; e.g., schistosomiasis. Some species (e.g., the amphibious snail Ampullarius gigas) are used to keep aquariums clean.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen.