Lymnaea stagnalis

The great pond snail is a model organism to study parasitology, neurology, embryonal development and genetic regulation.

baltica Lindström, 1868: synonym of Lymnaea stagnalis (Linnaeus, 1758) The distribution of this species is holarctic, mainly the temperate zones of Northern America, Europe and Asia.

The northernmost populations exist in northern Norway, and in Central Europe, it inhabits even montane ecosystems at 1700 meters above sea level.

[5] Lymnaea stagnalis has a relatively simple central nervous system (CNS) consisting of a total of ~20,000 neurons, many of them individually identifiable, organized in a ring of interconnected ganglia.

Studies using the central nervous system of Lymnaea stagnalis as a model organism have also identified novel cellular and molecular mechanisms in neuronal regeneration, synapse formation, synaptic plasticity, learning and memory formation, the neurobiology of development and aging, the modulatory role of neuropeptides, and adaptive responses to hypoxic stress.

The dissected central ring ganglia of Lymnaea stagnalis . Scale bar is 1 mm.
LBuG and RBuG: left and right buccal ganglia
LCeG and RCeG: left and right cerebral ganglia
LPeG and RPeG: left and right pedal ganglia
LPIG and RPIG: left and right pleural ganglia
LPaG and RPaG: left and right parietal ganglia
VG: visceral ganglion.
Lymnaea stagnalis in typical mating position of this species. The top snail is performing the male role (sperm donor), its white preputium (penis-carrying organ, Pp) can be seen inserted under the shell of the sperm recipient, where the female opening is located. During insemination, sperm (from the seminal vesicles) and seminal fluids (from the prostate gland) are transferred. Since these are simultaneous hermaphrodites, sexual roles can be swapped immediately afterwards. [ 6 ]
Eggs of Lymnaea stagnalis