Mizoram, July 3: There are only two species of Pila (Apple Snails) in India and one is restricted to hill streams and the other one Pila saxea found in the Northern Western Ghats. Other members of this group are found in stagnant water bodies such as paddy fields, ponds, marshes, and lakes.
A team of researchers while exploring freshwater snails near a waterfall in Mizoram discovered a new species of snail. It has a shell with a height and diameter of 2.5 cm. It was found among semi-aquatic plants and algae. The team studied their structural, anatomical, and ( phylogenetic relating to the evolutionary development and diversification of a species) characteristics to describe the species. The shell was right coiled and different from the other species Pila saxea and was named Pila mizoramensis after the place it was found and commonly called Mizoram Apple Snail.
News inputs from Swasti Sharma
