Pachychilus

Pachychilus, common name the jute snails, is a genus of freshwater snails with an operculum, aquatic gastropod mollusk in the family Pachychilidae.
Pachychilus is the type genus of the family Pachychilidae.

Distribution

The distribution of species in the genus Pachychilus includes:

Cuba, Venezuela, Belize, Mexico, and others.

Species

Species within the genus Pachychilus include:

† Pachychilus anagrammatus Dall, 1913Pachychilus apheles F. G. Thompson, 1967Pachychilus apis Pachychilus atratus Pilsbry & Hinkley, 1910
† Pachychilus caboblanquensis Weisbord, 1962
† Pachychilus cancelloides
† Pachychilus canoasensis Olsson, 1931 Pachychilus chrysalis Pachychilus cinereus Pachychilus conicus Pachychilus corpulentus F. G. Thompson, 1967Pachychilus corvinus Pachychilus cumingii I. Lea & H. C. Lea, 1851Pachychilus dalli Pilsbry, 1896
† Pachychilus dimorphica Pachychilus explicatus P. Fischer & Crosse, 1892Pachychilus fuentesi Aguayo, 1936
† Pachychilus fulvus Garvie, 2013 †Pachychilus gassiesii Pachychilus glaphyrus Pachychilus godmanni Pachychilus gracilis Tristram, 1864
† Pachychilus gracillimus Pachychilus graphium Pachychilus hellerii Pachychilus hinkleyi Pachychilus humerosus Pilsbry & Hinkley, 1910Pachychilus immanis Pachychilus indiorum Pachychilus intermedius Pachychilus jansoni H. Adams, 1871Pachychilus lacustris Pachychilus laevissimus Pachychilus largillierti Pachychilus larvatus Pachychilus liebmanni Pachychilus moctezumensis Pilsbry & Hinkley, 1910Pachychilus monachus Pilsbry & Hinkley, 1910Pachychilus nigratus - endemic to Villa Clara, CubaPachychilus obeliscus Pachychilus oerstedii Mörch, 1861Pachychilus olssoni Pilsbry, 1950Pachychilus panucula Pachychilus pasionensis Pilsbry, 1956Pachychilus pilsbryi E. von Martens, 1899Pachychilus planensis Pachychilus pleurotoma Pilsbry & Hinkley, 1910Pachychilus pluristriatus Pachychilus polygonatus Pachychilus potomarchus Pilsbry, 1893Pachychilus pottsianus Hinkley, 1920Pachychilus pyramidalis Pachychilus radix Pachychilus rasconensis Thiele, 1928Pachychilus rivorosai Pilsbry, 1893Pachychilus rubidus Pachychilus rusticulus Pachychilus salvini Pachychilus sargi
† Pachychilus satillensis Pachychilus saussurei Pachychilus schiedeanus Pachychilus schumoi Pilsbry, 1931Pachychilus subexaratus Crosse & P. Fischer, 1891Pachychilus subnodosus Pachychilus suturalis Pilsbry & Hinkley, 1910
† Pachychilus tarataranoides
† Pachychilus terebriformis Pachychilus tristis Pilsbry & Hinkley, 1910Pachychilus turati Pachychilus vallesensis Hinkley, 1907

subgenus Pachychiloides Wenz, 1939

† Pachychilus lawtoni Perrilliat, Vega, Espinosa & Naranjo-Garcia, 2008 - fossil from Northeastern Mexico

;Species brought into synonymy:Pachychilus aquatilis : synonym of Doryssa aquatilis Pachychilus drakei Arnold & Hannibal in Hannibal, 1912 †: synonym of Goniobasis drakei † Pachychilus glaphyra : synonym of Pachychilus glaphyrus Pachychilus indifferens Crosse & P. Fischer, 1891: synonym of Pachychilus corvinus indifferens Crosse & P. Fischer, 1891 Pachychilus lawsoni Hannibal, 1912 †: synonym of Lymnaea lawsoni † Pachychilus parvum I. Lea, 1857: synonym of Rehderiella parva Pachychilus pila Pilsbry & Hinkley, 1910: synonym of Amnipila pila Pachychilus renovatus : synonym of Pachychilus cumingii I. Lea & H. C. Lea, 1851 Pachychilus reticancellata †: synonym of Pachychilus recticancellata † Pachychilus suavis Dall, 1913 †: synonym of Goniobasis suavis †Pachychilus tristrami Crosse & P. Fischer, 1892: synonym of Pachychilus gracilis Tristram, 1864 Pachychilus violaceus - endemic to the area from Santiago de Cuba to Baracoa, Cuba: synonym of Pachychilus nigratus Pachychilus vulneratus P. Fischer & Crosse, 1892: synonym of ''Pachychilus chrysalis''

Human use

One of the Maya peoples, the Lacandon people, now Mexico's native peoples from state Chiapas, use Pachychilus indiorum, known locally as "t’unu", as a type of protein supplement to their diet when animal protein is unavailable. In addition, the shells from this "chuti" snail have great nutritional value, as they provide calcium and slaked lime when burnt. They are often preferred as a lime source over local limestone or other freshwater snail species for their purity as an alkali. The slaked lime is added to maize during the process of making maize dough for tortillas, pozole, and other foods. Slaked lime allows the release of amino acids such as tryptophan and lysine and the vitamin niacin, which would otherwise be unavailable from the maize if the lime were not added.