Man and Mollusc's Data Base of Edible Molluscs

• Achatina achatina
  (Linnaeus,1758)
  
  

Giant Ghana Tiger Snail

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• Native of South of the Sahara in East Africa, but due to purposeful or accidendal transplantation, it has become a serious agricultural pest that causes considerable crop damage in many countries
• Introduced to the USA: - introduced into Hawaii as a food source by the Japanese. A lot of cash has been spent to control agricultural this pest. Three specimens were brought to north Miami, FL, by a young boy from Hawaii where an infestation occurred (these have since been eradicated, J.C.)
• Baby snails are sold for consumption with 15 to 20gms of weigh. It grows well in hot climate regions. URL
• one of several giant African snails, grows up to 326mm (one foot) long. Its origin is South of the Sahara in East Africa. This snail was purposely introduced into India in 1847. There was an unsuccessful attempt to establish it in Japan in 1925. It has been purposely and accidentally transported to other Pacific locations and was inadvertently released in California after World War II, in Hawaii, and later in North Miami Florida in the 1970's. URL

• Archachatina marginata

ARIONIDAE

Slugs

• Ariolimax columbiana

Pacific Banana Slug, Pacific Bananaslug, Banana Slug

Picture coutesy of
Dr. Robert Thomas and Margaret Orr
© 2001
California Academy of Sciences
more information

Historical use: Pacific Northwest natives would consume the banana slug

• Banana slugs grow to a lenght of up to 6 - 8 inches. They are variable in color from yellow to drab green-brown, some with darker spots. Slugs have two tentacles on their head, which tapers to a long body and pointed tail.
• Banana slugs are a vital member of the forest ecosystem. They eat a variety of plant and animal foods including: lichens, leaves (including those of poison oak), mushrooms, animal carcasses and droppings.
• One of the banana slug's best-known attributes is its production of slime, or mucus. This slime is vital to the slug in several ways, by enabling it to slide easily over logs, leaves and whatever else lies in its path. Slug trails can often be found meandering along leaves or smooth rocks. In addition, a thick coating of slime helps protect the slug from dehydration

AMPULLARIIDAE
Freshwater snails

Apple Snails
Ampullariidae, now called Pilidae

• "AMPULLARIIDAE, a family name that is not valid. AMPULLARIIDAE is based on the genus name Ampullaria Lamarck, 1799, which has as a type species Helix ampullacea Linnaeus. The name Ampullaria is predated by Pila Roding, 1798, which also has as the type Helix ampullacea Linnaeus. Thus, Ampullaria and AMPULLARIIDAE are not available scientific names. Pila is a tropical Old World genus that has a calcified operculum. New World genera have corneous opercula..URL
• Apple Snail.net: To learn all about these fabulous snails, especially keeping them as pets.
  
• University of Michigan: "Because of their relatively large size, pilid snails serve as human food in much of their area of distribution. Because they are often preferred to be eaten raw, they mediate a serious disease in Southeast Asia, angiostrongyliasis or eosinophilic meningoencephalitis, caused by the rat lung worm (Angiostrongylus cantonensis)..."
• Apple Snails are sometimes eaten,although they can be host of a dangerous nematode.
  
• apple snails can be consumed like escargots. They seem to taste somewhat similar. In fact there are restaurants that serve apple snails and they are often offered in Oriental markets.
  
• The nutritional value of apple snails is relatively high. More precisely, the protein content of apple snail can make them a good protein source for humans.
• The whole apple snail family (Ampullariidae) is divided in 7 (or 10, depending of the authority followed) genera and contains about 120 different species.
  
• Field Guide to Freshwater Snails of Florida

Precautions; Apple snails can be infested with parasites and care has to be given to kill these off before consuming the snail. To do this, cook the snails thoroughly before consumption. This is a simple and effective way to eliminate the risk of infection. NEVER eat raw or poorly cooked snails!
Some basic tips to prepare the snails:
1. Put the snails in a tank without food for 2 days to make sure that the intestines are emptied (optional).
2. To kill the snail, boil gently or freeze them
3. Remove the snails from their shell with a hook or tweezers.
4. Remove the body and intestines of the snails In this snail you only eat the foot as the internal organs don't taste to good. This is especially true of the albumen (yolk) gland from the female apple snail which has the same bad taste as would her eggs. (This is a possible protection mechanism against predators).
5. Remove the operculum (shell door).

Recipes: Go to the Apple Snail Site then to the Site Map / Faqs / Can I eat my snails

• Apple Snail Site:

• Pomacea bridgesi
  (Reeve, 1856)

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• Apple Snail Site:Pomacea bridgesii is known in two varieties in the wild, which could turn out to be two different species. The rare Pomacea bridgesii bridgesii subspecies (Reeve, 1856), which is only known from the Rio Grande, Reyes River at Beni (bridges) and the Pomacea bridgesii diffusa subspecies (Blume, 1957), which inhabits almost the entire Amazon river system.

• Pomacea canaliculata
  (Lamarck, 1819)
• Other scientific names appearing in the literature of this species: Pomacea haustrum (from Thompson, 1997).

• Apple Snail Site: "The South American ampullarid Pomacea canaliculata is classified under the canaliculata complex. This is a groups af very closely related species which are very variable in size and appearance. .."

Pomacea flagellata
(Say, 1827)

• Apple Snail Site: "The Central American apple snails species flagellata is highly variable in shape (see shell photographs below) and over 30 variations have been described as separated species in the past. Nowadays all this species are recognized as one species with 4 subspecies:
  Pomacea flagellata flagellata (Say, 1827)
  Pomacea flagellata livescens (Reeve, 1856)
  Pomacea flagellata erogata (Fisher & Crosse, 1890)
  Pomacea flagellata dysoni (Hanley, 1854)"
  Distribution:
  Pomacea flagellata flagellata: central Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama and Colombia (Magdalena drainage area).
  Pomacea flagellata livescens: Mexico (Tabasco and Chiapas) and north-east Guatemala (Péten Lake).
  Pomacea flagellata erogata: similar distribution as flagellata flagellata, inhabits swamps and temporary ponds.
  Pomacea flagellata dysoni: Honduras.

• Pomacea haustrum
  (Reeve, 1856)

• Apple Snail Site: The South American ampullarid Pomacea haustrum is classified under the canaliculata complex. This is a groups af very closely related species which are very variable in size and appearance. .."

• Pomacea maculata
  (Perry, 1810)

• Apple Snail Site: The South American ampullarid Pomacea maculata is classified under the canaliculata complex. This is a groups af very closely related species which are very variable in size and appearance..."
• Mollusks Offer an Alternative to Fish-based Aquaculture: "The Amazon River region contains a high biodiversity of aquatic organisms hence an excellent potential for commercial aquaculture...Applesnails (Pomacea spp.)—and among them P. maculata, or churo, as it is known in Peru—are the largest known freshwater gastropods, reaching lengths of 155 mm and diameters of 135 mm (Pain, 1960).
  
  

• Marisa cornuarietis
  (Linnaeus, 1758)

Giant ramshorn snail, Colombian ramshorn, Columbian snail and goldenhorn marisa.

• Apple Snail Site
• Other scientific names appearing in the literature of this species: Ceratodes cornuarietis, Ampullaris cornuarietis (from Hunt, 1958).
  

Pila ampullacea
(Linnaeus, 1758)

Asiatic apple snail

• Apple Snail Site

Pila brohadri

Asiatic apple snail

• Apple Snail Site

• Pomacea paludosa
  (Say, 1829)

Florida Apple Snail

• Apple Snail Site
• URL "Pet shops and biological supply companies cannot be relied upon to distinguish between apple snails and mystery snails. The latter belong to a different family, the Viviparidae, and differ anatomically and biologically from the apple snails."
• Other scientific names appearing in the literature of this species: Ampullaria depressa Say, A. paludosa Say, A. hopetonensis Lea, A. penesma DeKay, A. disseminata DeKay, A. penesima DeKay, A. pinei Dall (from Clench and Turner, 1956).

• Placostylus ambagiosus
  Flax Snail (NZ: pupu harakeke)

• Placostylus bivaricosus (Gaskoin, 1855)

• Placostylus fibratus

• Placostylus souvilllei

• Xerocrassa cretica

CORBICULIDAE

• URL: "The Corbiculidae are a widespread family of moderate sized clams, often tinged or colored with violet on the interior. The name "corbicula" (little basket, from corbus, basket) refers to their characteristic concentrically ribbed shells and general shape. "
• Conch-L Comment: I have seen Corbicula [Corbiculidae]for sale in the markets in Shanghai, China, and in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, China. In Jiangxi Proince they are sold in markets and venders in the market also sell them in soups or what appears to be steamed with spices. They taste pretty good. I have seen the local fisherman collecting Corbicula from Lake Tai Hu just west of Shanghai, to sell to Japan and Korea. They are bagged in what appears to be 50 pound bags. A. Bogan
  

• Corbicula Batissa spp from mangrove swamps
  (Lamarck, 1806,)

seen in Indonesia and melanesian markets

• Corbicula Fluminea
  (Müller 1774)

Asian Clam

• presently in Eurasia, Southeast Asia, Africa, Australia, in the Pacific Islands, South America, and North America (Britton and Morton 1979)
• Japan
• Widespread and common in the USA. Mostly an introduced species (Ships carrying fresh water as ballast), and as such there are no state or federal regulations governing their harvest

• Corbicula leana orthodonta

HELICIDAE

MYTILOIDAE

ORTHALICIDAE

• Placostylus caledonicus
  (Petit, 1845)

• Pachycheilus Indiorum
  (Morelet, 1849)

Jute

• a reader from Guatelmala adds this about this snail: a fresh water mollusk called "jute" (hute). It can be prepared in a variety of manners. But before cooking it; the shell has to be cut just about 1/4 inch from its tail or the upper part of shell.

SPHINTEROCHILIDAE

• Species List
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• Sphincterochila candidisima or Leucochroa candidisima
  (Draparnaud, 1801)

cargol mongeta, or cargol jueu

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STROPHOCHEILOIDEA
STROPHOCHEILIDAE

• URL

• Strophocheilus pudicus
  
  (Muller, 1774)

Modest Megasnail

• Strophocheilus
  intertextus

Modest Megasnail

UNIONOIDA
Freshwater mussels

• URL: FRESHWATER MUSSEL (UNIONOIDA) GENERA OF THE WORLD
  Kevin S. Cummings
• 
  

Many Unionoida are edible; however, when I tried to gain some deeper knowledge and species, I kept coming up with comments such as this:

• in Ontario we always say that if you've got a recipe that calls for mud-flavoured latex high in persistant pollutants, you can freely substitute Unionids for the latex.
  I've eaten them from northern lakes when I've been collecting specimens (anything tastes good with plenty of butter and Garlic on it), but I've never heard of anyone eating them on a regular basis. Fred
• Although I stay clear of unionids as a delicacy, there is history of consumption by native peoples around the world as evidenced by mussel middens in archaeological sites. Jay
• I have seen people buying these (in Shanghai and Nanchang) animals for food but have never eaten them and my friends have told me they do not taste good but still no recipes on how to fix them. Arthur
• Freshwater mussels have been widely consumed in subsistence-type settings but are rarely popular in other contexts. Apparently they resemble calamari in the critical need to not cook them too long.
  Unionids are the only large freshwater bivalves native to the region; there's about eight or so native species in Italy on current classification. Anodonta may be thin-shelled enough to not preserve well.--
  Dr. David Campbell

• Anodonta woodiana
  (Rhodeus ocellatus)
  (Lea, 1834)

swan mussel; freshwater clam
Japan: Dobugai

• seen in the markets in Shanghai and Nanchang

• Cristaria plicata
  (Leach, 1815)

Cockscomb Pearl Mussel

• Seen in the markets in Shanghai and Nanchang However, I have been unable to verfy if this was for food or for the pearl inside.
• Since around A.D. 500, the Chinese have placed molds with tiny Buddha images in freshwater Cockscomb Pearl Mussels to create Buddha blister pearls—the world's first cultured pearls.
• Listed in the: Fauna & Flora Species Listed As Endangered or Rare in the 1997 Mongolian Red Book

• Cyprogenia aberti
  (Conrad 1850)

Edible pearly mussel or Edible naiad; Western Fanshell

• SPECIES LISTED ON APPENDIX II OF THE CONVENTION ON INTERNATIONAL TRADE IN ENDANGERED SPECIES OF WILD FLORA AND FAUNA (CITES), as adopted by the Conference of the Parties, valid from 19 July 2000.
  

• Hyriopsis cumingii
  (Lea, 1852)

Triangleshell Pearl Mussel

• Since around A.D. 500, the Chinese have placed molds with tiny Buddha images in freshwater Cockscomb Pearl Mussels (Cristaria plicata)to create Buddha blister pearls—the world's first cultured pearls. In the 1800s, Qing dynasty rulers prized natural Chinese freshwater pearls, especially from Manchuria, over marine pearls. Pearls from the Cockscomb, however, the first Chinese pearl mussel used in modern pearl culturing, were considered of poor quality. In contrast, those produced from the Chinese Triangleshell since the 1980s rival marine pearls in luster, color range and availability.
• Chinese Herb Data Base: used in tradional Chinese medicine. (The pearl shells are collected and ground into powder.) and Another site: Herbal pharmacopoeia
  
  

• Lamprotula leai

• Velesunio ambiguus
  (Philippi, 1847)

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found throughout the Murray-Darling system in coastal rivers of Victoria, south-east South Australia and central NSW

• Velesunio wilsoni

Northern Australia

VIVIPARIDAE
freshwater gastropods
Mystery Snails

• URL
• Family VIVIPARIDAE: Species list
• UNIO Listserve Comment:"I have seen the local fisherman collecting Corbicula from Lake Tai Hu just west of Shanghai, to sell to Japan and Korea. They are bagged in what appears to be 50 pound bags.
  I have eaten freshwater gastropods in Shanghai, China both the large mystry snails, Cipangopaludina and the so called mud snails, Bellamya both in the family Viviparidae. The mystry snails were served in a wine sauce and were quite good the mud snails were not so good. "

• Bellamyinae Bellamyia
  (mud snails)

Africa, India, southeast Asia

• Bellamyinae Cipangopaludina

• Cipangopaludina cathayensis

• Cipangopaludina chinensis
  (Reeve, 1863)

• Other scientific names appearing in the literature of this species: *Viviparus malleatus, Viviparus chinensis malleatus, Viviparus japonicus, Viviparus stelmaphora, Paludina malleata, Paludina japonicus, Cipangopaludina malleata.
• Chinese mystery snails can typically be found partially buried in the mud or silt of lakes, ponds, rice paddies, irrigation canals, roadside ditches or slower portions of streams (Pace, 1973). They prefer quiet water where there is some vegetation and a mud substrate (Clench and Fuller 1965).

• Viviparus malleatus/
  Cipangopaludina chinensis
  (Reeve, 1863)

Chinese mystery snail, Japanese Black snail, Japanese trapdoor snail

• Other scientific names:
  • Paludina malleata Reeve 1963;
  • Viviparus chinensis malleatus (Reve);
  • Cipangopaludina malleata (Reeve);
  • Wood (1892) published the first record of the species in the United States, however he misidentified the snail as Paludina japonicus von Martens
• Importance today leans more towards using them as a natural vacuum cleaner for garden ponds than in eating them. But think about this before eating them:
  • These are eaten in some parts of the world as they are considered large enough to be worth the effort (up to 50 mm or so). They thrive in muddy, weedy, stagnant water, like in park ponds in the northeast USA where where you could stand on the shore and see at least a couple of dozen of these snails. If it's a sparkling clean pond, you won't see them. But if its a trash-filled, stagnant mudhole, they love it!
    

• Distribution:
  • Wood (1892) published the first record of V. malleatus, based on specimens he purchased in a Chinese market in San Francisco, but in his report, he incorrectly identified the specimens as Paludina japonicus.
  • Later, Stearns (1901) determined that the specimens were actually malleatus, based on specimens of introduced exotic Viviparus from San Jose, California.
  • By 1911, Hannibal noted that malleatus had become abundant in the corridor between San Francisco Bay and San Jose. Hannibal (1911), also, reported the presence of japonicus based on specimens he personally collected from dry irrigation ditches in Hanford, California. This is considered the first credible record for the introduction of japonicus into North America.
  • By the turn of the century, both species of oriental Viviparus were securely established on the North American west coast (Clench and Fuller, 1965).
  • In 1914, malleatus was first collected on the east coast of the U.S. in Boston, Massachusetts, (Johnson, 1915).
  • It was c ommon in the ponds of Clove Lake Park in Staten Island, where it was apparently introduced for food. (Jacobson and Emerson (1961))
  • Since that time, malleatus has spread widely in the eastern United States. By 1965 (Clench and Fuller) malleatus could be found in many sites throughout most of central, the far western (including Hawaii), and eastern United States.

Raising Snails: Compiled for: The Alternative Farming Systems Information Center, National Agricultural Library

• Also a very interesting section on
  US Imports & Export
• Importing Live Snails/Slugs to the USA Permit information

Thus, there were new attempts of breeding our two main species: the Burgundy snail (Helix pomatia) and the Petit-Gris (Helix aspersa)."