Pila cecillei

Pila cecillei
Shell of Pila cecillei (syntype at Natural History Museum, London)
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Caenogastropoda
Order:	Architaenioglossa
Family:	Ampullariidae
Genus:	Pila
Species:	P. cecillei
Binomial name
Pila cecillei (R. A. Philippi, 1849)
Synonyms
Ampullaria cecillei R. A. Philippi, 1849 superseded combination Ampullaria cecillii R. A. Philippi, 1849 (not in prevailing use) Ampullaria fuliginea R. A. Philippi, 1852 junior subjective synonym Ampullaria inops Morelet, 1851 junior subjective synonym Ampullaria largillierti R. A. Philippi, 1849 junior subjective synonym Ampullaria madagascariensis E. A. Smith, 1882 Ampullaria subscutata Mousson, 1882

Pila cecillei is a species of freshwater snail in the family Ampullariidae, the apple snails. ^[2]

The shell can grow quite large, up to 50 mm, its diameter 49 mm.

(Original description in Latin) The shell is globose-ovate and umbilically perforated. It is thin and transversely multifasciated. Its epidermis appears reddish-brown, smooth, and shining. The whorls are rounded and are divided by a subcanaliculate suture. The aperture is ovate-oblong and entire. ^[3]

(Description as Ampullaria madagascariensis) The shell is subglobose and narrowly umbilicated, and it is moderately thick. It is sculptured with lines of growth and more or less distinct microscopic spiral striae. The shell is greenish olive, adorned with numerous purple-brown transverse lines and zones.

Whorls and sculpture: The shell comprises six whorls.These are flattened and broadly excavated above, and convex at the sides, and divided by a deep, pale sutural line. The body whorl is malleated in front, with the aperture facing towards the eye. The first three whorls are generally eroded and purple-black; when perfect in young shells, they are very distinctly spirally striated.

Aperture and operculum: The aperture is ovate-pyriform, purple-brown within, and yellowish on the columella and towards the lip, where the spiral lines and zones are particularly vivid. The peristome is simple, with the columellar margin being well curved and a little reflexed, connected with the termination of the outer lip by a very thin deposit of callus. Before the deposition of this callus, the starting-point of the columella is conspicuously defined by a transverse white line, which starts just above the umbilicus and winds around the penultimate whorl within the aperture. The operculum is generally dirty lilac on the inside, but sometimes appears white or horny-brown. ^[4]

The species occurs in Madagascar.

• Fischer-Piette, E. & Vukadinovic, D. (1973). Sur les Mollusques Fluviatiles de Madagascar. Malacologia. 12: 339-378.

• Cowie R.H. & Héros V. (2012). "Annotated catalogue of the types of Ampullariidae (Mollusca, Gastropoda) in the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris, with lectotype designations" (PDF). Zoosystema. 34 (4): 797. doi:10.5252/z2012n4a8.
• Morelet, A. (1851). "Testacea Africae insularis a Cl. Vesco collecta et ab A. Morelet descripta". Revue et magasin de zoologie pure et appliquée. 2 (3): 220.
• Philippi, R.A. (1851–1852). Die Gattung Ampullaria. In Abbildungen nach der Natur mit Beschreibungen. In: Schuberth, G. H.; Wagner, J. A., Eds. Systematisches Conchylien-Cabinet von Martini und Chemnitz. Neu herausgegeben und vervollständigt. Ersten Bandes zwanzigste Abtheilung. 1-74. Nürnberg: Bauer & Raspe. p. 53-54.
• Mousson, A. (1882). "Notes sur quelques coquilles de Madagascar". Journal de Conchyliologie. 30: 46.

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