The potential of the invasive snail pomacea canaliculata as a predator of various life-stages of five species of freshwater snails

King Lun Kwong, Robert K.Y. Chan, Jian Wen Qiu*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

59 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The invasive apple snail Pomacea canaliculata is known as an omnivorous species, but there are only few reports of its predation. This study examined the potential of this snail as a predator of common freshwater snails in southern China. Laboratory experiments were conducted to quantify the damage of the apple snail to both early stages (eggs and/or neonates) and adults of five species of freshwater snails (Austropeplea ollula, Biomphalaria straminea, Melanoides tuberculata, Physa acuta, Sinotaia quadrata). The apple snail caused significant mortality to all of the early stages of the five snails, as well as adults of the pulmonates A. ollula, B. straminea and P. acuta, but did not consume adults of the prosobranchs M. tuberculata and S. quadrata. Such differential survival of the prey might be explained by differences in shell hardness and structure, as the adult prosobranchs were well protected by a hard shell and an operculum, whereas the pulmonates had a relatively fragile shell and lacked an operculum. The apple snail was unable to detect its prey from a distance, but it crawled quickly, which could create opportunities for direct contact with potential prey. Apple snails may therefore influence invaded ecosystems through predation on other freshwater snails.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)343-356
Number of pages14
JournalMalacologia
Volume51
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Aug 2009

Scopus Subject Areas

  • Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
  • Animal Science and Zoology

User-Defined Keywords

  • Apple snail
  • Crushing resistance
  • Invasive species
  • Pomacea
  • Predation

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'The potential of the invasive snail pomacea canaliculata as a predator of various life-stages of five species of freshwater snails'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this