Functional analysis of the respiratory organs of an obligate air-breathing, aquatic snail (Pomacea canaliculata, Ampullariidae)
Project
ID: 00000C688
Public
Ampullariids are freshwater gastropods bearing a gill and a lung, thus showing different degrees of amphibiousness. In particular, Pomacea canaliculata (Caenogastropoda, Ampullariidae) is an obligate air-breather that relies mainly or solely on the lung for dwelling in poorly oxygenated waters, for avoiding predators, while burying in the mud during aestivation, and for oviposition above water level. In this project, we studied the morphological features of the respiratory organs, namely the gill and the lung, and those organs that aid in the different breathing behaviors of this species. This research was published with the following citation: Rodriguez C, Prieto GI, Vega IA, Castro-Vazquez A. 2021. Morphological grounds for the obligate aerial respiration of an aquatic snail: functional and evolutionary perspectives. PeerJ 9:e10763 https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.10763