Pachychilus

Pachychilus
Two shells of Pachychilus laevissimus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Caenogastropoda
Order:	incertae sedis
Superfamily:	Cerithioidea
Family:	Pachychilidae
Genus:	Pachychilus I. Lea & H. C. Lea, 1851
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, 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.

Distribution

The distribution of species in the genus Pachychilus includes:

• Cuba (2 species), Venezuela, Belize, Mexico, and others.

Species

Species within the genus Pachychilus include:

subgenus Pachychiloides Wenz, 1939

• † Pachychilus lawtoni Perrilliat, Vega, Espinosa & Naranjo-Garcia, 2008 - 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: synonym of Pachychilus nigratus (Poey, 1858) (junior synonym)
• Pachychilus vulneratus P. Fischer & Crosse, 1892: synonym of Pachychilus chrysalis (Brot, 1872) (junior synonym)

Human use

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. 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.