Nutritional Freshwater Life
124
Common name: Apple snail.
Distribution: Nepal, southwestern Asia,
Africa, North and South America, India
(Budha et al., 2010b; Rao, 1989).
Habitat: Permanent and temporary
stagnant freshwater bodies.
Description: The shell of this species
is globose with an oval opening. It has
a large and deep umbilicus.  The color
varies from olive green to gray green
with a tinge of red. A large number
of variations are known. The interior
of the shell is dull reddish with very
faint spiral bands visible, white at
the  columella. The operculum is calcified at the inside (part attached to the
snail) (Dey, 2007).
Nutritional Facts
Proximate Composition (% WW)
Moisture Ash Protein Fat CHO a Fiber
85.5
2.599 8.272 0.725 2.902 0.0256
a Carbohydrate.
Minerals (mg/100 g DM)
Ca
P
Fe
Na
K
304.427 133.356 99.147 43.485 31.889
Source: Data from Baby et al. (2010).
Pila ovata Olivier 1808
Common name: Apple snail.
Distribution: Sudan, Mozambique, Nigeria, eastern Africa, Egypt (Ghamizi et al.,
2010).
Habitat: Temporary freshwater pools,
papyrus swamps, and stony beaches.
Description: The shell of this mediumsized (55–59 mm wide, 43–47 mm high)
species has a relatively high spire (about
half of the aperture height) and a round
shell opening (aperture). The umbilicus
is small but deep, and the lip somewhat
thickened.  The color varies from light
brown to reddish olive with faint, noncontinuous, spiral bands.  Operculum
is 1.5 to 1.7 times higher than wide and
calcified (Brown, 2002).
Nutritional Facts
Proximate Composition (% DM)
Protein
Dry
Matter
Ash
Fat
67.2–74.2 86.0–87.3
1.2–2.5
7.9–12.2
Source: Data from Chima and Akobundu
(2010).
Minerals of Viscera (mg/g)
Cu
Pb
Fe
Zn
0.14
0.92
0.78
0.72
Source: Data from Aboho et al. (2009).