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Pomacea insularum
Island Apple Snail
Not native to Florida
This South American native is now the largest non-marine snail in Florida. Initially identified - both by myself and many experts in the field - as Pomacea canaliculata (channeled apple snail). P. insularum (island apple snail) is now recognized as another, separate invasive species.
Island and channeled apple snails feed aggressively on aquatic and terrestrial plants and are a serious agricultural pest in rice-producing states.
Both of these invasives can be distinguished from the native apple snail by the deep groove or channel between whorls, and the larger bunches of smaller pink eggs. The native Florida apple snail lays clutches of less than a hundred eggs that are white to slightly pinkish and 3-6 mm in diameter. Island apple snails lay clutches of one to two thousand tiny pink eggs that may fade during the two to three weeks they take to hatch. Channeled apple snails are in between these species in both size and number, laying clutches of from 300 to 800 pink eggs.
Pomacea insularum is a member of the Ampullariidae - Apple snails family.
Other species of the Pomacea genus in the Wild Florida Photo database:
Pomacea paludosa - FLORIDA APPLE SNAIL
For more information on this species, visit the following link:
Florida Fish and Wildlife COnservation Commission page for this species
Date record last modified: Jul 17, 2018
