Classification

Domain: Eukarya
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Order: Basommatophora
Family: Planorbidae
Genus: Planorbella or Helisoma
Species: Planorbella campanulata

Above information found on Encyclopedia of Life 2011.

 

Domain: Eukarya
     -Planorbella campanulata (Say, 1821) is in the domain Eukarya because it contains membrane bound organelles (Hickman 2009).  Some of the membrane bound organelles are mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum and nucleus.  Having a nucleus is also a characteristic of this domain as well (Hickman 2009).

Kingdom: Animalia
    -Species in this kingdom ingest their food, and digest their food internally (Hickman 2009).  In other words they are heterotrophic, meaning they can't produce their own food internally (Hickman 2009). Most ingest their food in an internal cavity (Encyclopedia of Life 2011).  The cells lack a cell wall which place them in the Kingdom Animalia (Encyclopedia of Life 2011).

Phylum: Mollusca
       -Planorbella campanulata (Say, 1821) is a soft bodied coelomate with a calcium carbonate shell. Its body plan consists of a mantle, visceral mass and muscular foot (Hickman 2009).  One of the defining characteristics placing this snail in the Phylum Mollusca is its radula (Hickman 2009).

Class: Gastropoda
       -Contains a spiral shell where the body of the snail can be withdrawn into (Encyclopedia of Life 2011).  This species goes through a process called "torsion" (Hickman 2009).

Order: Basommatophora
        -There is a mantle cavity present, the eyes are at the base of one of the pairs of tentacles, and is monoecious or hermaphroditic (Both male and female reproductive parts) (Sturm 2006).

Family: Planorbidae
        -It is a freshwater snail that contains no gills and they have a large pulmonary sac used for gas exchange (Baker 1945).  The shells are all in one plane for all snails in the Planorbidae family (Baker 1945).  Also contains a structure called pseudobranch (false gill) that can take over respiration duties if submerged and cannot access fresh air (Baker 1945).

Genus: Planorbella/Helisoma
        -The shell is depressed, there are many whorls in the shell, and the apex is below the level of the body whorl (Walker 1918).  Thicker shell and a size of around 1-30 mm in diameter (Perez 2004).

Species: Planorbella campanulata
        -Four whorls in the shell, longer than they are wide, and the shell is dilated near the aperture (opening of the shell) (Winslow 1926).

 

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