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:

Species

Species within the genus Pachychilus include:
subgenus Pachychiloides Wenz, 1939
;Species brought into synonymy:Pachychilus aquatilis : synonym of Doryssa aquatilis Pachychilus drakei Arnold & Hannibal in Hannibal, 1912 †: synonym of Goniobasis drakeiPachychilus 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 lawsoniPachychilus 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 recticancellataPachychilus suavis Dall, 1913 †: synonym of Goniobasis suavisPachychilus 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.