Lanistes is a genus of freshwater snails which have a gill and an operculum, aquatic gastropod mollusks in the family Ampullariidae, the apple snails.
The distribution of the genus Lanistes includes Africa and Madagascar.
Lanistes has a unique anatomy among the Ampullariidae: it has a "hyperstrophic" sinistral shell. This means that the body of the snail is dextral (as in all other ampullariids), but the shell appears to be sinistral. However the sinistral appearance stems from the fact that the rotation of the shell as it grows is in an upward direction rather than the usual downward direction.
Three subgenera have been recognized, based on shell differences: Lanistes sensu stricto, Meladomus and Leroya. These subgenera are not used in recent works.
Extant species within the genus Lanistes include:
Lanistes alexandri (Bourguignat, 1889)Lanistes ambiguus Martens, 1866Lanistes bernardianus (Morelet, 1860)Lanistes beseneckeri Schütt in Schütt & Besenecker, 1973 †Lanistes bicarinatus Germain, 1907Lanistes bloyeti (Bourguignat, 1889)Lanistes carinatus (Olivier, 1804)Lanistes chaperi (Kobelt, 1912)Lanistes carinatus (Olivier, 1804) - type speciesLanistes ciliatus Martens, 1878Lanistes congicus O. Boettger, 1891Lanistes deguerryanus (Bourguignat, 1889)Lanistes ellipticus Martens, 1866Lanistes farleri Craven, 1880Lanistes fultoni (Kobelt, 1912)Lanistes grasseti (Morelet, 1863)Lanistes graueri Thiele, 1911Lanistes intortus Martens, 1877Lanistes jouberti (Bourguignat, 1888)Lanistes letourneuxi (Bourguignat, 1879)Lanistes libycus (Morelet, 1848)Lanistes libycus var. albersiLanistes libycus form bernardianus or as Lanistes bernardianus (Morelet, 1860)Lanistes magnus Furtado, 1886Lanistes nasutus Mandahl-Barth, 1972Lanistes neavei Melvill & Standen, 1907Lanistes neritoides Brown & Berthold, 1990Lanistes nitidissimus (Bourguignat, 1889)Lanistes nsendweensis (Dupuis & Putzeys, 1901)Lanistes nyassanus Dohrn, 1865Lanistes ovatus (Olivier, 1804)Lanistes ovum Peters in Troschel, 1845 - synonyms: Lanistes magnus Furtado; Lanistes olivaceus (Sowerby); Lanistes procerus; Lanistes elatior Martens, 1866; Lanistes ovum bangweolicus Haas, 1936; Lanistes connollyi Pain, 1954 Lanistes ovum adansoni; Lanistes olivaceus var. ambiguusLanistes palustris (Morelet, 1864)Lanistes pfeifferi (Bourguignat, 1879)Lanistes pilsbryi Walker, 1925Lanistes pseudoceratodes (Wenz, 1928)Lanistes purpureus (Jonas, 1839)Lanistes solidus Smith, 1877Lanistes stuhlmanni Martens, 1897Lanistes varicus (Müller, 1774) - synonyms: Lanistes adansoni Kobelt, 1911; Lanistes millestriatus Pilsbry & Bequaert, 1927Fossil species within the genus Lanistes include:
† Lanistes asellus van Damme & Pickford, 1995† Lanistes bishopi Gautier† Lanistes gautieri van Damme & Pickford, 1995† Lanistes gigas van Damme & Pickford, 1995† Lanistes hadotoi van Damme & Pickford, 1995† Lanistes heynderycxi van Damme & Pickford, 1995† Lanistes nkondoensis van Damme & Pickford, 1995† Lanistes olukaensis† Lanistes senuti van Damme & Pickford, 1995† Lanistes trochiformis van Damme & Pickford, 1995
