Pachychilus

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For the orchid of Orchidaceae family, see Pachystoma.

Pachychilus
Two shells of Pachychilus laevissimus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Caenogastropoda
Superfamily: Cerithioidea
Family: Pachychilidae
Genus: Pachychilus
I. Lea & H. C. Lea, 1851[1]
Type species
Melania laevissima G. B. Sowerby I, 1824
Synonyms
  • Cercimelania P. Fischer & Crosse, 1892 (invalid: unnecessary replacement name for Pachychilus)
  • Melania (Pachychilus) I. Lea & H. C. Lea, 1851
  • Oxymelania Crosse & P. Fischer, 1892
  • Pachycheilus H. Adams & A. Adams, 1854 (invalid: unjustified emendation of Pachychilus)
  • Pachychilus (Glyptomelania) Crosse & P. Fischer, 1892· accepted, alternate representation
  • Pachychilus (Oxymelania) Crosse & P. Fischer, 1892· accepted, alternate representation
  • Pachychilus (Pachychilus) I. Lea & H. C. Lea, 1851· accepted, alternate representation
  • Pachychilus (Pilsbrychilus) J. P. E. Morrison, 1951 (junior synonym of Pachychilus)
  • Pachychilus (Potamanax) Pilsbry, 1893· accepted, alternate representation
  • Sphaeromelania Rovereto, 1899 (invalid: unnecessary replacement name for Pachychilus)

Pachychilus, common name the jute snails,[2] is a genus of freshwater snails with an operculum, aquatic gastropod mollusk in the family Pachychilidae.

Pachychilus is the type genus of the family Pachychilidae.[3]

Distribution

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The distribution of species in the genus Pachychilus includes:

Species

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Species within the genus Pachychilus include:

subgenus Pachychiloides Wenz, 1939[5]

  • † Pachychilus lawtoni Perrilliat, Vega, Espinosa & Naranjo-Garcia, 2008[6] - fossil from Northeastern Mexico
Species brought into synonymy
  • Pachychilus aquatilis (Reeve, 1859): synonym of Doryssa aquatilis (Reeve, 1859)
  • Pachychilus drakei Arnold & Hannibal in Hannibal, 1912 †: synonym of Goniobasis drakei (Arnold & Hannibal in Hannibal, 1912) † (new combination)
  • Pachychilus glaphyra (Morelet, 1849): synonym of Pachychilus glaphyrus (Morelet, 1849) (incorrect gender of species epithet)
  • Pachychilus indifferens Crosse & P. Fischer, 1891: synonym of Pachychilus corvinus indifferens Crosse & P. Fischer, 1891 (unaccepted rank)
  • Pachychilus lawsoni Hannibal, 1912 †: synonym of Lymnaea lawsoni (Hannibal, 1912) † (new combination)
  • Pachychilus parvum I. Lea, 1857: synonym of Rehderiella parva (I. Lea, 1857) (original combination)
  • Pachychilus pila Pilsbry & Hinkley, 1910: synonym of Amnipila pila (Pilsbry & Hinkley, 1910) (original combination)
  • Pachychilus renovatus (Brot, 1862): synonym of Pachychilus cumingii I. Lea & H. C. Lea, 1851 (replacement name for Pachychilus cumingii I. Lea & H. C. Lea, 1851 as a secondary homonym)
  • Pachychilus reticancellata [sic] †: synonym of Pachychilus recticancellata (Kobayashi & Suzuki, 1939) † (incorrect subsequent spelling)
  • Pachychilus suavis Dall, 1913 †: synonym of Goniobasis suavis (Dall, 1913) †
  • Pachychilus tristrami Crosse & P. Fischer, 1892: synonym of Pachychilus gracilis Tristram, 1864 (invalid: unnecessary replacement name for Pachychilus gracilis)
  • Pachychilus violaceus (Preston, 1911) - endemic to the area from Santiago de Cuba to Baracoa, Cuba:[4] synonym of Pachychilus nigratus (Poey, 1858) (junior synonym)
  • Pachychilus vulneratus P. Fischer & Crosse, 1892: synonym of Pachychilus chrysalis (Brot, 1872) (junior synonym)

Human use

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One of the Maya peoples, the Lacandon people, now Mexico's native peoples from state Chiapas, use Pachychilus indiorum, known locally as "t’unu", as a type of protein supplement to their diet when animal protein is unavailable.[7] In addition, the shells from this "chuti" snail have great nutritional value, as they provide calcium and slaked lime when burnt. They are often preferred as a lime source over local limestone or other freshwater snail species for their purity as an alkali. The slaked lime is added to maize during the process of making maize dough for tortillas, pozole, and other foods. Slaked lime allows the release of amino acids such as tryptophan and lysine and the vitamin niacin, which would otherwise be unavailable from the maize (unable to be metabolized) if the lime were not added.[7]

References

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  1. ^ Lea I. & Lea H. C. (1851). "Description of a new genus of the family Melaniana, and of many new species of the genus Melania, chiefly collected by Hugh Cuming, Esq., during his zoological voyage in the East, and now first described". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 18: 179-197. 179.
  2. ^ Healy P. F., Emery K. & Wright L. E. (1990). "Ancient and Modern Maya Exploitation of the Jute Snail (Pachychilus)". Latin American Antiquity 1(2): 170-183. JSTOR.
  3. ^ Bouchet, Philippe; Rocroi, Jean-Pierre; Frýda, Jiri; Hausdorf, Bernard; Ponder, Winston; Valdés, Ángel & Warén, Anders (2005). "Classification and nomenclator of gastropod families". Malacologia. 47 (1–2). Hackenheim, Germany: ConchBooks: 1–397. ISBN 3-925919-72-4. ISSN 0076-2997.
  4. ^ a b c Vázquez A. A. & Perera S. (2010). "Endemic Freshwater molluscs of Cuba and their conservation status". Tropical Conservation Science 3(2): 190-199. HTM, PDF.
  5. ^ Wenz (1939). Handb. Paläozool. (4)6(1): 686.
  6. ^ Perrilliat M. D. C., Vega F. J., Espinosa B. & Naranjo-Garcia E. (2008). "Late Cretaceous and Paleogene Freshwater Gastropods from Northeastern Mexico". Journal of Paleontology 82(2): 255-266. doi:10.1666/06-062.1.
  7. ^ a b Nations J. D. (1979). Snail Shells and Maize Preparation: A Lacandon Maya Analogy. American Antiquity 44.3: 568-571.
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