Bridgesii Color Basics

        Bridgesiis are one of the few species of apple snails which has been cultivated to produce a wide variety of colors. These colors range from golden to green, and from ivory to purple. There are 3 primary factors in determining the color of a snail: the shell base color, the stripe color, and the foot color:

        In the case of the snail above, the shell base color would be considered white (ivory), the stripe color purple (the picture is a bit faint), and the foot color white. (Any spots of orange or yellow pigments is NOT counted in the foot color). This is one of the rarest color types, but it serves as a good model for showing how to distinguish the color elements. Determining the color of a snail can sometimes be a bit tricky, especially where purples are concerned, and there is quite a bit of overlap between certain colors. There are even some colors which start out looking like another color, and then darken into their true color with age. However, for the majority of colors, and the most common colors, it is relatively easy to determine the color. The steps below can be used to figure out a snail's color type, assuming it is one of the commonly available types:

        * Unfortunately, not all colors can be catigorized using those steps, since not all snails fall neatly into the descriptions. Striped Yellow is an example of this. While most Striped Yellow snails are relatively easy to distinguish, some purple forms masquerade as Striped Yellows until they are about 1/2" big, and then they suddenly begin to darken. The stripes become more purple, and the shell base can change color. This particular "morphing" color does not have a name as it is not very common, but so far it tends to be refered to as a "Brown Purple".

        Since there is such a wide variety of colors, and descriptions alone can be vague or confusing, the following is a table of bridgesii colors, including common colors and some rare ones. All images are used with permission and are meant as examples to show the range that certain color types have. If a certain snail does not look 100% like one of the pictures, that doesn't mean it isn't the same color if it matches the text description. Please note that availablility is categorized by my own experiences and those of other people I know. Local availability of all colors will vary.

Color Name	Description	Availability	Image 1	Image 2	Image 3
Ivory	The "albino" snail, although the color is not truely albinistic, as it posesses some pigment in the form of body spots. Their shell hue ranges from perfectly white, to slightly off-white or yellowish. These are often called "albino mystery snails".	Rare. Although there are numerous breeders of Ivories, they are still relatively rare in the pet trade. Large chains like Petco or Petsmart almost never carry them, though periodically they can be found through smaller privately owned stores.		image contributed by BugBarb	image contributed by Nannasmom
Golden	The foot color ranges from white to yellow-ish, and the shell color ranges from opaque yellow to semi-transparent yellow. These are sometimes called "Inca Snails", or "Gold Mystery Snails".	Common.This is one of the most, if not the most common color type of bridgesii. Golden bridgesiis even outnumber wild-type bridgesiis in the pet trade at this point. These snails can be found at almost any large chain or private store that carries apple snails.	My first golden, The Yellow Zeiplin		No image available
Striped Yellow	These look like a golden snail that has brown stripes. The stripes of these snails can be either brown or slightly purple-ish. In the latter case, the young snails tend to change color to purple as described earlier on the page.	Common. Rarer than Golds, but still often available at large chains and privately owned stores.
Wild Type	Dark body, yellow to brown shell base, and brown to black stripes. This color has a lot of variation between individals. The shell base can even become slightly greenish toned.	Common. Less common than Golds, but still readily available from most stores and other sources.			Image here (c) Sijn Ghesquiere
Jade	The dark-bodied version of a Golden snail. Jades have a dark body, with a shell that ranges from transparent yellow to very bright opaque yellow. There is a slight overlap between those with transparent yellow shells and some Blues.	Common/Rare. Depending on the area, Jades are either common or rare, depending on whether a company or local breeder is selling in that location. Jades can be purchased easily over the internet.		No image available	No image available
Blue	Dark bodied with a shell that ranges from completely white, to semi-transparent, in which case the dark blue-ish black body shines through. The thinner the shell, the more blue the snail looks. Blues with a very thick shell will just appear white shelled with a dark body.	Semi-Rare. Less common than jades. Some large chains get "accidental" shipments that contain blues mixed in with the ordered color. Privately owned stores periodically order them in with other hard-to-get colors. "Muddy" blues that are halfway between Jade and blue are much easier to find than the ones with a bright white and thin shell.		image contributed by BugBarb	No image available
Red-White	Most likely this color is heavily overlaped with Light Striped Purple snails, so it is hard to distinguish the two. Red-Whites have a light body, and white/ivory to clear shell base, and their stripes can vary from being brown to redish-brown or slightly purple (hence the dificulty to distinguish this color from the Purples)	Very Rare. Almost impossible to get, and I have yet to see a true Red-White snail for sale. Most likely these are all called purples today.	No image available	No image available	No image available
Red-Brown	Red-Browns can often be hard to tell apart from Wild Types. they have a dark body, clear shell base (CLEAR, not off-white, etc), and red-ish brown stripes. The clear shell base is often very hard to identify as it lets the dark body shine through.	Rare, but periodically mixed in with shipments of wild-type snails.	No image available	No image available	No image available
Dark Striped Olive	Dark bodied snail with a green-ish shell base and stripes that range from red-ish brown to black or brown. Sometimes the shell base will have a blue tone.	Common. These are typically sold as the "Black Mystery Snail", since they can be so dark that they appear almost black. Available at most Petsmarts/Petcos that carry snails.
Dark Plain Olive	Green shell with dark body, no stripes.	Very Rare.	No image available	No image available	No image available
Striped Olive	Green shell with white body and brown/black/green stripes.	Very Rare.	No image available	No image available	No image available
Plain Olive	Green shell, white body, no stripes.	Very Rare.	No image available	No image available	No image available
Dark Striped Purple	Dark bodied with a pink to purple shell base, and dark purple or black stripes. These snails can be such a deep purple that they appear jet black and stripeless when taken out of the water. The ones with a more pink shell base tend to be brighter in color and easier to distinguish.	Rare. Dark striped purles are the easiest to get of all purples, but they are still hard to find. No large chains order them specifically to my knowledge, and most only end up getting them in as flukes among a mass of "Black Mystery Snails" (Dark Striped Olives). These "mistake" purples are usually the ones that are so dark they are almost black.
Dark Striped Purple (clear shell base)	Within the snails that look like dark striped purples, there are some that have a dark body, a CLEAR shell base, and dark purple stripes. In this case, the dark body shines through as blue-ish purple. These are nearly impossible to distinguish from dark striped purples that posess pink/purple shell base pigment, and so they are generally considered the "same" color. These snails are usually identified when a flash picture is taken, when the flash reflects off the clear shell layer and makes it appear white.	Rare. Not impossible to get, but much harder than the normal Dark Striped Purples.	(picture with flash)	(picture without flash)	No image available
Dark Plain Purple	Dark bodied snails with a pink/purple shell base, and no stripes.	Rare.	No image available	No image available	No image available
Striped Purple	Light bodied snails with a pink/purple shell base and dark/bright purple stripes. These can be very striking critters, with unusually vibrant shell colors. The white body helps to accentuate the brightness of purple pigment in the shell. Somtimes the stripes are almost masked by the brightness of the underlying pigment.	Rare. Sometimes mixed up with shipments of "chesnut" (Striped yellow, I think?) snails.
Plain Purple	Light bodied snails with a pink/purple shell base and no stripes. Like Striped purples, the colors can be very bright.	Rare. Harder to come by than Striped Purples. Again, sometimes mixed up with shipments of "chesnut" snails.	No image available	No image available	No image available
Light Striped Purple (ivory version)	White bodied snails with a white to ivory shell base, and soft to bright purple stipes. They often have the appearance of a striped candy, and are quite nice looking animals. When the stripes are faint, they are hard to see at a distance and the snails sometimes look like very very light plain purples until seen in good light up close.	Rarest of all the purples. This is one of the newest colors, and therefore is only second to Red-Whites in being hard to come by. I suspect that most Red-Whites are now called Light Striped Purples because of confusion due to rarity.	image contributed by BugBarb	image contributed by BugBarb	image contributed by BugBarb
Light Striped Purple (pink version)	Very similar to the true Light Striped Purples, except that they have one layer of very light pink pigment in the inner shell layer. They are white bodied snails with a pink to ivory shell base, and soft to purple stipes. They are usually "strawberry" in overall color, especially when a flash picture is taken. Some individuals have an apparently clear shell base until a flash is taken, and the pink reflects heavily (second picture).	Rare. This is one of the newer colors.	(low lighting) image contributed by BugBarb	(with flash)	(no flash, but in direct sunlight)
"Bugrundy" Purple	This is definitely a new color, linked to the appearance of striped purples. As of yet I have no explaination for the appearance of the shell, because the color changes depending on the lighting and what angle the snail is held at: around the sides it has a deep burgundy hue (like wine), and in the highlighted areas it has yellow/copper overtones. It is, needless to say, a bizzare color as far as explaining its genetics is concerned. I suspect it is linked to, if not just a darker form of the Striped Yellows that mature into Striped Purples. The individual pictured started out looking very similar to a dark Striped Yellow.	Rare. This is one of the newer colors.		No image available	No image available

        Again, many of these colors are not reaily available through the pet trade. The purples in particular are hard to come by; they are a new color, occuring in the last couple of years, and have not had a chance to become recognized as distinct colors by many mass-breeders and almost all large petstore chains. In the apple snail community, there is an effort to establish a population of purples that breed true to the color, and to begin increasing purple snail numbers in the pet trade.
        It should also be noted that because many of these colors are uncommon, their names have not been 100% standardized. The colors that are closest to having name standardization are Golden, Jade, Wild Type, Ivory, and Blue. All others tend to be refered to by different names depending on who is selling them, and sometimes the names are "fancied up" to make the color sound rarer than it really is. For instance, "Gold Inca Snails" (which can be either P. canaliculata or P. bridgesii) often sell for a little more than "Gold Bridgesiis". Sometimes it goes the other way too, not distinguishing color whatsoever, and I have seen some sellers that just put "Mystery Snail" on the front of a tank that has canaliculatas, bridgesiis of several colors, and even the livebearing Viviparids mixed up together.

        While P. bridgesii is the most diversly colored species of apple snail, different color forms of other species certainly do exist. The most common are in the spcies P. canaliculata and Marisa cornuarietis. The following colors exist in those species:

• Canaliculata:
  • Wild Type - yellow/brown shell base, dark brown stripes, dark-ish body.
  • Golden - yellow/brown shell base, no stripes, lighter than normal body.
  • Golden (albinistic) - yellow/horn colored shell base, no stripes, truely albinistic body (no spots) and clear eyes.
  • Dark Yellow - yellow/brown shell base, dark body, no stripes.
  • "Red Bodied" Dark Yellow - this color has no official name, but the they resemble the dark yellow coloration, except that there is heavy red pigmentation all over the body, particularly on the eyes, top of the head, and usually the top of the foot. The "snout" is usually black and white mottled. The eyes are very striking, with a black "pupil" surrounded by a thin but bright yellow ring of color.
• Marisa cornuarietis:
  • Wild Type - light yellow to brown shell base, dark brown spiral stripes thicker to one side, light brown-speckled body. Some rare individuals have an all-black body with the underside of the foot being white.
  • Golden - light yellow shell base, no stripes, either a black & white splotched body or an almost solid black body.

The two Marisa colors: Golden (top) and Wild (bottom, shown from the "dark" side.).	Two of the canaliculata colors: Golden albinistic (left) and Wild (right).
A Wild Type Marisa, shown from the "light" side. Some of these type will have red-brown stripes (shown here), others will have stripes closer to black, and a yellower shell base. Unfortunately both individuals' shells are slightly obscured with encrusting algae. Image contributed by Nannasmom. A Wile Type canaliculata. Note the yellow-green coloration; this varies among Wild Type canaliculats. Image contributed by Nannasmom. A golden albinistic canaliculata. Note that the "golden" shell darkens in the older growth to more of a horn color. Only young animals have a solid very light gold shell.
A non-albinistic golden canaliculata. Note that most young wild-type canaliculatas will also look like this, with "spots" instead of stripes. However, on this individual, the spots are due to internal organs showing through rather than actual pigment in the shell.	An unnamed type of golden canaliculata ("red bodied" dark yellow). These snails exibit an unusual amount of red and yellow pigment, especially around the head and eyes; note the two red patches on the top of this one's head. The eyes are very distinctive, with a deep blue "pupil" surrounded by a narrow bright yellow ring (either in the eye itself or the surrounding tissue, I am not sure which). The reason for this is not yet understood, and neither is its inheritance pattern.

        In my studies of snail colors, in addition to differentiating the various purple colors, I have also discovered some new colors which havn't been previously mentioned in some way. One of them which is becomming more common, and which I havn't been the first one to mention, is the "burgundy" or "red" apple snail. These snails are a version of the Striped Purple color in bridgesiis, and I have not yet determined why they have such a pronounced burgundy color (they look like certain kinds of wine). Other snails which have not been mentioned by others are the Pink bridgesii and the Red Bodied canaliculata. These colors are defined as follows:

• Burgundy (bridgesii)
  • Body: white, or very pale yellow.
  • Body Spots: orange or yellow.
  • Shell Base: red-ish or red-brown (distinctly NOT yellow or yellow-brown).
  • Stripes: Dark red or brown.
• Pink, or Light Striped Purple - pink version (bridgesii)
  • Body: white.
  • Body Spots: orange (yellow theoretically possible)
  • Shell Base: distinctly pink (NOT purple); the color is created by pink pigment on the inner shell layer and no purple pigment (except in stripes) in the outer shell layer.
  • Stripes: dark magenta, or purple.
• "Red-Bodied", not officially named (canaliculata)
  • Body: underlying flesch is beige.
  • Body Spots: heavy black and red pigmentation all over the body. The upper side of the foot is almost entirely covered with red pigment, as are parts of the head. The snout is mottled patches of black pigment and no pigment (appears white-ish). The base of each cephalic tenticle has heavy red pigmentation.
  • Shell Base: very light golden, possibly closer to clear.
  • Stripes: none.
  • Other: This snail has a very unusual appearance, especially as far as the head is concerned. The eyes have a strange pattern of pigmentation where the inner part is clearly blue-black, and it is surrounded by a bright yellow thin ring of pigment (either in the eye itself or just outside it, I am not yet sure). The eye stalks are mottled red and black. Also, the red pigment at the base of the cephalic tenticles gives the snail the effect of having red "eyebrow" patches like certain dog breeds have.