Mystery Snail Colors

This info has been distributed several times, with the go-to sites being Donya's or Apple Snail.net; but Donya's seems to have fallen by the wayside without updates and I felt I needed to take it upon myself to redo the imaging and genetic info for those constantly asking for it.

Shell Colors 

There are four shell colors that form the foundation of the color of the bridgesii snail: White, Yellow, Purple, and Green.  The inheritance of these colors are currently hypothetical/anecdotal and have not been professionally studied.  Based on current theory:

1. Yellow (Y) - Dominant
2. Purple (P) - Co-dominant
3. Green (g) - assumed recessive

Body Colors

There are two basic body colors: light and dark.  However, there also seems to be a third color that causes a yellow body type.  Another gene seems to control the color of spotting on the body (orange and yellow).  For now I'm focusing only on light/dark:

1. Dark body (B) - Dominant

Striping

Shells may contain stripes or be plain.  Stripes also appear to be of different colors.  For now, let's assume one gene is responsible for striping:

1. Striping (St) - Dominant

Genetic Makeup of Colors

Plain/Basic Colors

• Ivory: a nearly completely recessive snail, yy pp G- bb stst.  The only gene it may carry without expression is green.  Shell is plain white, body is white.
• Gold: Y- pp G- bb stst.  Shell is plain yellow, body is white.
• Blue: essentially Ivory with a dark body, yy pp G- B- stst.  Shell is white though may appear bluish-gray due to pigmented body showing through, body is gray.
• Jade: a dark-bodied gold snail, Y- pp G- B- stst.  Shell is gold but may appear greenish due to pigmented body showing through, body is gray.
• Purple: yy PP G- bb stst.  It's very difficult to find a true solid purple since the striping gene is dominant.  Shell is deep purple, body is white.
• Dark Purple: yy PP G- B- stst.  The unicorn of all colors, virtually impossible to find.  Shell is purple but may appear violet due to pigmented body showing though, body is gray.  (no photo)
• Olive: yy pp gg bb stst.  Also very rare, these snails have a greenish to brassy tint to their shell and a white body. (no photo)
• Dark Olive: yy pp gg B- stst.  Very rare, shell is greenish to brassy, body is gray.  (no photo)

Light Striped Colors

• Chestnut: a striped gold snail, Y- pp G- bb St-.  Shell is gold but may appear brownish with brown striping, body is white.
• Peppermint: a striped ivory snail, yy pp G- bb St-.  Shell is ivory to clear with reddish stripes, body is white.
• Raspberry: a striped purple snail, yy PP G- bb St-.  Shell is purple with purple stripes, body is white.
• Purple-Gold: a snail with both gold and purple shell pigments active, Y- PP G- bb St-.  It may be known as burgundy, but the burgundy I've seen doesn't have this segregation of color.  New growth appears gold while older growth appears purple; the entire shell has a purple iridescence when turned in the light.  Stripes may appear brown or purple, body is white.
• Pink: a snail with only one copy of the purple gene, yy Pp G- bb stst.  Shell is a solid light pink, body is white.
• Magenta: assumedly a striped pink snail, yy Pp G- bb St-.  However the shell is intensely darker than a plain pink, suggesting another modifier may be in play (an inner shell color is suggested).  Shell is bright strawberry pink with purple stripes, body is white.
• Light-striped Purple: almost a pink or peppermint in color, yy P- G- bb St-.  Shell is a very light pink or purple with faint purple stripes, body is white.
• Light Walnut: a striped olive, yy pp gg bb St-.  Shell is brassy with brown stripes, body is white. (no photo)

Dark Striped Colors

• Dark Chestnut: a dark-bodied striped gold snail, Y- pp G- B- St-.  Easily confused with "wild type" snails at first glance, but upon closer inspection the shell is a coppery-gold with brown stripes, body is gray.
• Walnut: a dark-bodied striped olive snail, yy pp gg B- St-.  Brassy shell with brown stripes, body is lighter gray than other dark-bodied snails.
• Dark Burgundy: a walnut or dark chestnut snail carrying purple, yy Pp gg B- St- or Y- Pp G- B- St-.  This individual appears to be the former, with a brassy shell with purple stripes and a gray body.  Similar to the Purple-Golds, it has a purple iridescence when turned in light.
• Blueberry: a dark striped purple, yy PP G- B- St-.  Shell is a deep violet purple with purple stripes, body is gray.
• Dark-striped Pink: yy Pp G- B- St-.  Shell is purple to raspberry with purple stripes, body is gray.
• Wild/Black: a full dominant phenotype, Y- P- G- B- St-.  Wilds can carry other colors but the shell will always appear dark black or brown with a dark body.  (no photo)

Comparing Tricky Colors

The snail in the center has a greener shell than the blue on the right...but sometimes the blues develop green as they age.  Are they green carriers?  Is the snail in the center an olive, or a normal blue?  The jade is a deeper yellow color on the shell and isn't easily confused with either.

This lineup demonstrates the difference between the dark colors, with a light color thrown in.  Notice how the walnut is that brassy color, the dark burgundy clearly doesn't have a purple shell base but does have a purple sheen, and the blueberry is unmistakably deep purple.

Out of Water Comparison

What Will I Get If...

Dude, ain't nobody got time for that after spending all day photoshopping snails out of photos to make it pretty for you.  I gave you the theoretical genotypes...make your own damn punnet squares.

If you’re looking for snails, my BAND page is 

 'Tails from the Crypts'

https://band.us/n/aba56587F6y3h