Tolerance assessment of the aquatic invasive snail Potamopyrgus antipodarum to different post-dispersive conditions: implications for its invasive success

By

Romero, Alberto
Alonso, Álvaro

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2019

Original Publication

NeoBiota : advancing research on alien species and biological invasions

Volume

44

Pages

57-73

Subjects

air exposure , Conductivity , Mortality , neonate production , New Zealand mudsnail , Temperature

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sophia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/neobiota.44.31840

 

Abstract

The New Zealand mudsnail (NZMS) Potamopyrgusantipodarum (Gray, 1843) (Tateidae, Mollusca) is a successful invasive species able to alter the functioning of the invaded ecosystems. However, to arrive and establish in new aquatic ecosystems, this snail must survive to the overland translocation through aerial exposure and must tolerate the new physical and chemical conditions of the recipient ecosystem. In this study, we simulated different conditions for the NZMS invasion by combining two air exposure treatments (0 and 20 h) with different physical and chemical conditions of the rehydration water (low and normal water temperatures and normal and high water conductivities). Mortality, behavior and neonate production were compared across treatments. Air exposure caused a high percentage of mortality but survivors tolerated the subsequent abiotic conditions. Low temperatures and high conductivities altered the behavior of adult snails, increasing significantly their reaction time (i.e. time to start normal movement). This may have negative consequences for the survival of this species under natural conditions. Finally, these conditions did not affect significantly the production of neonates. These results supported that the surviving NZMS to a brief period of air exposure possess the ability to acclimate to contrasting abiotic conditions with a potential establishment of new populations and that survivors can reproduce in different abiotic conditions after an air exposure period.