Pila (gastropod)

Pila is a genus of large freshwater snails with an operculum, African and Asian apple snails, aquatic gastropod mollusks in the family Ampullariidae, the apple snails.

Distribution
Distribution of the genus Pila include Africa, Madagascar, southern Asia and Indo-Pacific islands. It is amphibious in nature and can undergo summer sleep or aestivation under drought condition. It is generally found in lakes, pools, and sometimes even in the river streams where aquatic vegetation like Vallisneria, Pistia are found in large amount for food.

External Features
When viewed from ventral side facing the collumella towards the observer, the collumella rotates clockwise or Dextral.

Species
Species within the genus Pila include:

subgenus Pila
 * Pila africana (v. Martens, 1886)
 * Pila ampullacea (Linnaeus, 1758) - type species
 * † Pila assermoensis (Jodot, 1953)
 * Pila brohardi (Granger, 1892)
 * † Pila busserti Harzhauser & Neubauer in Harzhauser et al., 2017
 * Pila cecillei (Philipi, 1848)
 * † Pila celebensis (Quoy & Gaimard, 1834)
 * † Pila colchesteri Cox, 1933
 * Pila decocta (Mabille, 1887)
 * † Pila falloti (Jodot, 1953)
 * † Pila faujasii (Serres, 1829)
 * † Pila gauthieri (Jodot, 1953)
 * Pila globosa (Swainson, 1822)
 * Pila gracilis (I. Lea, 1856)
 * Pila mizoramensis Sil, Basak, Karanth & Aravind, 2021
 * † Pila mutungi Van Damme & Pickford, 1995
 * † Pila neuberti Harzhauser & Neubauer in Harzhauser et al., 2016
 * Pila nevilliana (Annandale & Prashad, 1921)
 * Pila occidentalis (Mousson, 1887)
 * Pila ovata (Olivier, 1804)
 * Pila pesmei (Morelet, 1889)
 * Pila saxea (Reeve, 1856)
 * Pila scutata (Mousson, 1848)
 * Pila speciosa (Philippi, 1849)
 * Pila turbinis (I. Lea, 1856)
 * Pila virens (Lamarck, 1822)
 * Pila virescens (Deshayes, 1824)
 * Pila wernei (Philipi, 1851)

subgenus Turbinicola Annandale & Prashad, 1921
 * Pila aperta (Prashad, 1925)
 * Pila (Turbinicola) saxea (Annandale & Prashad, 1921)


 * Synonyms:
 * Pila aldersoni Pain, 1946 : synonym of Pomacea aldersoni (Pain, 1946) (original combination)
 * Pila angelica (Annandale, 1920) : synonym of Pila celebensis (Quoy & Gaimard, 1834)
 * Pila conica (Wood, 1828) : synonym of Pila scutata (Mousson, 1848)
 * Pila gradata (E. A. Smith, 1881) : synonym of Pila ovata (Olivier, 1804)
 * Pila hollingsworthi T. Pain, 1946 : synonym of Pomacea hollingsworthi (Pain, 1946) (original combination)
 * Pila polita (Deshayes, 1830) : synonym of Pila virescens (Deshayes, 1824)
 * † Pila selvensis (Vidal, 1917) †: synonym of † Selvovum selvense (Vidal, 1917)

Ecology
Pila species are a host of a trematode Multicotyle purvisi.

Human use
The shells of Pila are used in traditional ethnomedicine for weakness by Saharia people in Rajasthan, India.

Pila ampullacea and Pila pesmei are some of the rice field snail species traditionally eaten in Thailand that have been displaced by the invasive golden apple snail, Pomacea canaliculata.