Pseudosuccinea columella
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.
Pseudosuccinea columella | |
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Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Mollusca |
Class: | Gastropoda |
Subclass: | Heterobranchia |
Superorder: | Hygrophila |
Family: | Lymnaeidae |
Genus: | Pseudosuccinea |
Species: | P. columella |
Binomial name | |
Pseudosuccinea columella | |
Synonyms[2] | |
Lymnaea columella Say, 1817 |
This snail is an intermediate host for Fasciola hepatica, the liver fluke, a parasite of livestock, especially sheep.[4]
Distribution
Indigenous
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]
Introduced
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]
- other countries in Africa[8]
- Pacific islands[8]
Europe:
Description
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]
![]() Apertural view of the shell |
![]() Abapertural view of the shell |
The animal is dusky with whitish spots. The eyes are small and black and are located at the inner base of the tentacles.[7]
Habitat
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
Parasites of Pseudosuccinea columella include:
- In North America, Pseudosuccinea columella is major intermediate host of Fasciola hepatica.[4][15]
- The species also serve as a snail host for Fascioloides magna.[16]
- Also serves as a host for the cercariae of the trematode Telorchis sp.[17]
References
This article incorporates public domain text from the reference [7]
- Say T. (1817). "Description of seven species of American fresh water and land shells, not noticed in the systems". Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 1(1-2): 13–18. page 14–15.
- Bargues M. D., Artigas P., Khoubbane M. & Mas-Coma S. (2011). "DNA sequence characterisation and phylogeography of Lymnaea cousini and related species, vectors of fascioliasis in northern Andean countries, with description of L. meridensis n. sp. (Gastropoda: Lymnaeidae)". Parasites & Vectors 4: 132. doi:10.1186/1756-3305-4-132.
- Piaget J. (1914). "Quelques Mollusques de Colombie". Mémoires de la Société neuchâteloise des Sciences Naturelles, Neuchâtel, 5: 253–269. page 266, plate 9, figure 5.
- Torgerson P. & Claxton J. (1999). "Epidemiology and Control". In: Dalton J. P. (ed.) "Fasciolosis". CAB International, Wallingford, pp. 113–149.
- "Pseudosuccinea columella (Say)". Last updated 19 September 2004, accessed 28 March 2011.
- e., R. (2002). "Molecular phylogenetic relationships in the aquatic snail genus Lymnaea , the intermediate host of the causative agent of fascioliasis: Insights from broader taxon sampling". Parasitology Research. 88 (7): 687–696. doi:10.1007/s00436-002-0658-8. PMID 12107463. S2CID 20009582.
- "Species summary for Pseudosuccinea columella". AnimalBase, last modified 25 March 2011, accessed 28 March 2011.
- Pointier, J. P.; Coustau, C.; Rondelaud, D.; Theron, A. (2007). "Pseudosuccinea columella (Say 1817) (Gastropoda, Lymnaeidae), snail host of Fasciola hepatica: First record for France in the wild". Parasitology Research. 101 (5): 1389–1392. doi:10.1007/s00436-007-0656-y. PMID 17661191. S2CID 481828.
- Agudo-Padrón A. I. (14 May 2009). "Recent Terrestrial and Freshwater Molluscs of Rio Grande do Sul State, RS, Southern Brazil Region: A Comprehensive Synthesis and Check List". Visaya April 2009, pages 1–13. PDF Archived 2012-11-05 at the Wayback Machine.
- Appleton C. C., Forbes A. T. & Demetriades N. T. (2009). "The occurrence, bionomics and potential impacts of the invasive freshwater snail Tarebia granifera (Lamarck, 1822) (Gastropoda: Thiaridae) in South Africa". Zoologische Mededelingen 83. http://www.zoologischemededelingen.nl/83/nr03/a04 Archived 2017-09-27 at the Wayback Machine
- Ferreira, P. 2014 PhD Thesis, Universidade Nova de Lisboa
- (in Czech) Horsák M., Juřičková L., Beran L., Čejka T. & Dvořák L. (2010). "Komentovaný seznam měkkýšů zjištěných ve volné přírodě České a Slovenské republiky. [Annotated list of mollusc species recorded outdoors in the Czech and Slovak Republics]". Malacologica Bohemoslovaca Suppl. 1: 1–37. PDF.
- Stalazs A. (2002). "List of snail species in Latvia". Last modifications 21 August 2002, accessed 28 March 2011.
- Correa, A. C.; Escobar, J. S.; Durand, P.; Renaud, F. O.; David, P.; Jarne, P.; Pointier, J. P.; Hurtrez-Boussès, S. (2010). "Bridging gaps in the molecular phylogeny of the Lymnaeidae (Gastropoda: Pulmonata), vectors of Fascioliasis". BMC Evolutionary Biology. 10: 381. doi:10.1186/1471-2148-10-381. PMC 3013105. PMID 21143890.
- First report of larval stages of Fasciola hepatica in a wild population of Pseudosuccinea columella from Cuba and the Caribbean, Journal of Helminthology, 2011, 85 (1), p. 109–111
- Krull W. H. (1933). "New snail hosts for Fasciola magna (Bassi, 1875) Stiles, 1894". J. Parasitol. 20: 107–108.
- Echaubard, P.; Little, K.; Pauli, B.; Lesbarrères, D. (2010). Brown, Justin (ed.). "Context-Dependent Effects of Ranaviral Infection on Northern Leopard Frog Life History Traits". PLOS ONE. 5 (10): e13723. Bibcode:2010PLoSO...513723E. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0013723. PMC 2965661. PMID 21060894.
External links
Media related to Pseudosuccinea columella at Wikimedia Commons