REVSYS: A revision of New World Ampullariidae: an emerging model system in evolutionary biology and systematics training

评估生物多样性危机严重程度的能力取决于解决分类学障碍——严重缺乏能够识别和分类生物的专家。这种障碍在地球上最大的动物群体——无脊椎动物，尤其是软体动物身上表现得最为严重。该项目的主要目标是评估Ampullariidae（苹果蜗牛）家族淡水蜗牛的多样性和特性。在这个主要的蜗牛群体中，有超过250种被描述过，但其中有多少是真正的物种，以及它们的真实身份，都是未知的。因此，对它们的多样性和分布的认识极其混乱，对它们的生态学、行为、虫害状况和控制的研究也很混乱。该项目将通过研究蜗牛的外壳、内部解剖结构、DNA序列和行为来解决这一困惑。这些蜗牛是许多生态系统的重要组成部分。一种原产于美国的苹果蜗牛是濒临灭绝的大沼泽地风筝的主要食物，但引进的入侵苹果蜗牛在自然和湿地农业（如水稻）生态系统中都是潜在的严重害虫，同时也是导致人类和动物疾病的寄生虫的潜在媒介。在东南亚被广泛引进，它们也成为水稻的头号害虫。因此，了解这些入侵物种的身份、关系和起源是非常重要的。然而，缺乏这类蜗牛的分类专业知识是一个全球性的严重问题，因此该项目的一个主要重点是培训美国和南美洲的年轻科学家，以建立所需的专业知识，同时也提供工具，帮助农业和海关检查官员等其他人正确识别这些物种。

The ability to assess the severity of the biodiversity crisis hinges on addressing the taxonomic impediment -- the serious lack of experts able to identify and classify organisms. This impediment is felt most seriously in the largest groups of animals on earth, the invertebrates, and in particular the mollusks. The primary goal of the project is to assess the diversity and identities of freshwater snails in the family Ampullariidae (apple snails). More than 250 species have been described in this major group of snails, but how many of these are real species, as well as their true identities, is unknown. Knowledge of their diversity and distributions is thus extremely confused and studies of their ecology, behavior, pest status and control are confounded. The project will resolve this confusion by studying the snails' shells, internal anatomy, DNA sequences and behavior. These snails are important components of many ecosystems. One species of apple snail native to the United States is the key food item of the endangered Everglades kite, but introduced invasive apple snails are potentially serious pests in both natural and wetland agricultural (e.g., rice) ecosystems, as well as being potential vectors of parasites that cause disease in humans and animals. Introduced widely in south-east Asia, they have also become the number one pest of rice. Understanding the identities, relationships and origins of these invasive species is thus of great importance. However, the lack of taxonomic expertise in such groups of snails is a serious problem globally, and so a major focus of the project is training of young scientists both in the United States and in South America in order to build this needed expertise, while also providing tools to assist others such as agricultural and customs inspection officials to correctly identify these species.