In news– A team of researchers from Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), Bangalore, have discovered a new type of Apple snail.
About the snail-
- Pila mizoramensis is the sixth member of the Pila genus from India and the second species to inhabit hill streams.
- Pila is commonly known as Apple Snails.
- It is currently found in only two localities in Mizoram.
- It is right coiled and is a close relative of the Southeast Asian species, Pila virescens.
- It has a shell height and diameter of about 2.5 cm.
- Its habitat has perennial waterfalls and the snail was found among algae and semi-aquatic plants in the spray or splash zones of the waterfalls.
- Its locality has a temperature not exceeding 25 degrees Celsius and receives an annual rainfall of over 2500 mm.
- There are only two species of Pila from India which are restricted to streams and the other one Pila saxea is found in the northern Western Ghats.
About Apple snail-
- Ampullariidae, commonly named the apple snail, is a family of large freshwater snails.
- They are unusual because they have both a gill and a lung and are amphibious.
- They are probably of Gondwanan origin.
- They are exceptionally well adapted to tropical regions characterized by periods of drought alternating with periods of high rainfall.
Source: Indian Express
