Pila ampullacea, is a species of freshwater snail with an operculum, an aquatic gastropod mollusk in the family Ampullariidae, the apple snails.
Distribution This species occurs in Southeast Asia: Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines
Description The height of the shell varies between , its diameter between .
(Original description in Latin) The shell is subumbilicate, subrotund, and smooth. Its whorls are more ventricose above, and the umbilicus is covered. The aperture is ovate-oblong.
(Described in Latin as Ampullaria gruneri) The shell is ovate-globose and umbilically perforated, appearing somewhat rugose and olive-colored. Brown zones are present, barely shining through the rather thick, very smooth epidermis. The spire nearly exceeds one-third of the total height. The whorls are rounded, with the body whorl being slightly more swollen in its upper part. The aperture is ovate-oblong and semilunate, displaying a yellowish-brown band. The peristome is slightly thickened internally and pale fulvous. The outer lip is straight, and the columellar margin is reflexed.
As food Pila ampullacea, together with Pila pesmei, are indigenous rice field snail species traditionally eaten in Thailand that have been displaced by the invasive golden apple snail, Pomacea canaliculata.Heavy Predation on Freshwater Bryozoans by the Golden Apple Snail, Pomacea canaliculata Lamarck, 1822 (Ampullariidae); The Natural History Journal of Chulalongkorn University 6(1): 31-36, May 2006 In Indonesia, it is famous as keong sawah or tutut (from ) as traditional cuisine which is often boiled or grilled as satay.
References
Solem, A. (1964). A collection of non-marine mollusks from Sabah, Malaysia. Sabah Society Journal. 2(1/2): 1-40.
External links Linnaeus, C. (1758). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Editio decima, reformata [10th revised edition], vol. 1: 824 pp. Laurentius Salvius: Holmiae
Applesnail.net: description Applesnail.net info