Planorbella


Planorbella is a genus of freshwater air-breathing snails, aquatic pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Planorbidae, the ram's horn snails, or planorbids, which all have sinistral, or left-coiling, shells.

Ecology

Species in this genus are sometimes hosts for parasites, constituting a link in the pathway of infection for higher animals. For example, some species of Planorbella host rediae and cercariae stages of the parasite Ribeiroia, prior to ultimate infection of the Rough-skinned Newt.
Planorbella are often algae grazers, and in some locations such as oligotrophic sloughs, they may be a dominant element of total ecosystem biomass and hence system integrity.

Species

Species within the genus Planorbella include: