This review examines recent studies on the use of the planorbid snail, Biomphalaria glabrata, as a model to study the effects of dietary induced hyperlipidemia in an invertebrate. The review examines studies done by thin layer chromatgraphy (TLC), high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), gas chromatography (GC), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometry, light microscopy (LM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) on the lipid composition of snails maintained on a high fat diet of hen`s egg yolk (experimentals) versus those maintained on a conventional diet of leaf lettuce (controls). The high fat diet elevated the lipid composition of the snails, particularly triacylglycerols, in the digestive gland-gonad complex (DGG) and the hemolymph. The major site of lipid storage is the digestive cell of the DGG. The dietary induced hyperlipidemia can be reversed by feeding previously yolk-fed snails a lettuce diet.