and at least 10 fossil species Lanistes is a genus of freshwater snails which have a gill and an operculum, aquatic gastropod mollusks in the family Ampullariidae, the apple snails.

[7] The distribution of the genus Lanistes includes Africa and Madagascar.

[3] Lanistes has a unique anatomy among the Ampullariidae: it has a "hyperstrophic" sinistral shell.

[8] This means that the body of the snail is dextral (as in all other ampullariids), but the shell appears to be sinistral.

[8] Three[3] subgenera have been recognized, based on shell differences: Lanistes sensu stricto, Meladomus and Leroya.