Galba truncatula (O.F. Müller, 1774) (Gastropoda, Lymnaeidae): the colonization of new stations on acid soil by low numbers of snails

Abstract

Samples of 5, 10 or 20 adult Galba truncatula each were introduced into 25 slope rush beds and 24 road ditches on acid soil to study the colonization of these new sites by the snail. Surveys were conducted over the following eight years to determine the area where these G. truncatula colonized in these new stations and to count the number of overwintering snails in April or May. Snail populations were present in about 50% of the sites where samples of 5 snails each were introduced and in all sites when each sample included 10 or 20 snails. The average area of these habitats showed a peak before decreasing in the following years and this peak was all the more late as the sample introduced into the station increased in size. In contrast, snail abundance in all cases peaked in the second or third year after introduction and gradually decreased thereafter. In all cases, a concentration of snails was noted in the most upstream zone, whereas the number of individuals decreased gradually towards the downstream zone. These results demonstrate that a small number of snails (10 or 20 adults per sample) allow the development of a new population of G. truncatula in new acid soil stations.