What are the differences between golden apple snails and river snails? Teach you quick ways to tell them apart

The golden apple snail, also known as the apple snail, is native to the Amazon River basin in South America and is a large aquatic snail. After China introduced it in the 1980s, due to its strong stress resistance, omnivorous feeding habits, astonishing reproductive capacity and extremely fast growth rate, it has now become a widespread pest in southern China and Southeast Asian countries. In China it is mainly distributed in Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, Hainan and other provinces. This snail causes both direct and indirect damage to aquatic crops. The direct damage is that it directly feeds on crop seedlings, causing reduced or broken seedlings; the indirect damage is that the feeding wounds become channels for the invasion of various pathogens, inducing the occurrence and spread of various diseases.

Differences between golden apple snails and river snails

The river snail, also known as the field snail or yellow snail, is found in most parts of China. It lives in the mud and sand of lakes, rivers, swamps, ponds and paddy fields. It usually crawls along the bottom or on aquatic plants with its broad foot, and feeds mainly on the leaf sap of aquatic plants and algae.

1. The shell of the golden apple snail is yellow, while the shell of the river snail is olive-brown.

2. The spire tip of the golden apple snail is flat and short, while the spire tip of the river snail is long and pointed.

3. The operculum of the golden apple snail is rather flat, while the operculum of the river snail is relatively round in shape.

4. The flesh of the golden apple snail is lighter in color, mostly yellowish-white, while the flesh of the river snail is mostly olive-brown.