Description:

Pyrazus ebeninus, is very similar in habit and form to other operculate snails in the Cerithiidae and Potamididae families, all of which live in muddy brackish or fresh water and are members of the Cerithioidea superfamily.

Some of these operculate air breathers have partitioned their mantle cavity to both accomodate the gill and to absorb oxygen directly from the air via a capillary structure in the wall of the mantle cavity. Pyrazus ebeninus differs in  having no gill at all, only a functional lung. In this respect, it is like the land snails of the Pulmonata group.

Classification

Class: Gastropoda

Clade: Sorbeconcha

Superfamily: Cerithioidea

Family: Thiaridae

 

Major Genera

• Genus: Pyrazus

Pyrazus ebeninus (Bruguiere, 1792)
Ebony Swamp Cerith