Common Apple Snail vs Long-tailed Sylph

Pomacea bridgesii compared with Aglaiocercus kingii

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Common Apple Snail	Long-tailed Sylph
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Mollusca (Mollusks)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class	Gastropoda (Gastropoda)	Aves (Birds)
Order	Architaenioglossa (Architaenioglossa)	Apodiformes (Apodiformes)
Family	Ampullariidae	Trochilidae
Genus	Pomacea	Aglaiocercus
Species	Pomacea bridgesii	Aglaiocercus kingii

Evolutionary Relationship

Common Apple Snail and Long-tailed Sylph share a common ancestor at the Kingdom level: Animalia. (Animals)

Conservation Status

Common Apple Snail

LC — Least Concern

Long-tailed Sylph

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Common Apple Snail	Long-tailed Sylph
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Common Apple Snail

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests, and mangrove forests and coastal wetlands within the Indomalayan biogeographic realm. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Widely distributed across Asia (Israel, Taiwan, Vietnam), Europe (Austria), North America (United States), and South America (Chile, Venezuela).

Long-tailed Sylph

Habitat

Typically found in various aerial, terrestrial, and aquatic environments.

Range

Distributed across Colombia, Ecuador, Norway, and Venezuela.

Common Apple Snail

<em>Pomacea bridgesii</em>, commonly known as the Common Apple Snail or Spike-topped Apple Snail, is a freshwater gastropod mollusk in the family Ampullariidae. This species is classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List and has an extensive global distribution spanning Asia, Europe, North America, and South America, largely due to its popularity in the aquarium trade and subsequent introductions. In its native South American range, Common Apple Snails typically inhabit tropical and subtropical freshwater environments including rivers, lakes, marshes, and flooded forests such as mangroves. They are known for their distinctly globular shell and their ability to breathe both air and water using a combination of a gill and a primitive lung-like structure. This species typically lays distinctive pink egg clutches above the waterline on emergent vegetation or hard surfaces. It feeds primarily on aquatic vegetation, algae, and detritus. Its average lifespan is approximately 3 years under favorable conditions.

Long-tailed Sylph

One of the most strikingly ornamented hummingbirds, male long-tailed sylphs have iridescent green plumage and dramatically elongated, ribbon-like outer tail feathers reaching up to 22 cm — over three times the body length. Found in Andean cloud forests of Colombia and Venezuela, they inhabit humid montane forest between 1,400–2,800 meters elevation. Males perform elaborate display flights to attract females. Their extravagant tails are a classic example of sexual selection via female preference.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 1 countries:

🇻🇪 Venezuela