Abstract
Heleobia piscium (d’Orbigny, 1835), a member of the Cochliopidae family found only in South America, is distributed from Entre Ríos, Delta del Paraná, and the littoral of the Río de la Plata down as far as to Punta Indio (Buenos Aires), the southernmost limit of the snail’s geographical distribution. To date, little information is available regarding the reproductive cycle of species within this family either in Argentina or throughout South America. The present work analyzed the histology of the reproductive system of the gonochoric species H. piscium and determined the stages oogenesis and spermatogenesis under natural conditions. Specimens of H. piscium were collected in the Multiple-Use Natural Reserve Isla Martín García, located in the Upper Río de la Plata estuary to the south of the mouth of the Uruguay River. The gametogenic cycle in both sexes was found to consist of the following stages: early maturation, maturation, and evacuation. The maturation period was found to extend from January to October and evacuation of the gametes to start in November and end in February (summer in the Southern Hemisphere). The results indicated the H. piscium exhibit a reproductive cycle without a resting period.
Highlights
Research on the Cochliopidae to date has tended to focus on the taxonomy, morphology, and biology of the family, but little information is available on certain aspects of the anatomy, life cycle, How to cite this article Martin and Díaz (2016), Histology and gametogenesis in Heleobia piscium (Cochliopidae) from the Multiple Use Reserve ‘‘Isla Martín García,’’ Buenos Aires, Argentina
Few studies have dealt with the reproductive cycle species from Argentina or from South America, except for those conducted by Cazzaniga (1982) on Littoridina parchappii (d’ Orbigny, 1835) in the drainage channels of the lower valley of the Colorado-River province of Buenos Aires, Argentina
The female gonad of H. piscium presents a ribbon-like distribution with few follicles
Summary
Heleobia Stimpson, 1865 is a genus within the family Cochliopidae Tryon, 1866 (Wilke et al, 2001; Szarowska, Falniowski & Steffek, 2011) comprising 101 species, of which 90 are found in South America (Hershler & Thompson, 1992; Pons da Silva & Veitenheimer-Mendes, 2004; Cazzaniga, 2011; Collado, 2015). Rumi et al (2006) and Rumi et al (2008) reported 16 Heleobia species for Argentina, of which 10 are endemic.Heleobia piscium (d’Orbigny, 1835), a South American species, is distributed from Entre Ríos, Delta del Paraná, and the littoral of the Río de la Plata estuary down to Punta Indio (Buenos Aires), the southernmost limit of the snail’s geographical range. Few studies have dealt with the reproductive cycle species from Argentina or from South America, except for those conducted by Cazzaniga (1982) on Littoridina parchappii (d’ Orbigny, 1835) in the drainage channels of the lower valley of the Colorado-River province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The analysis of other freshwater gastropods has provided information on the gametogenesis of species belonging to the families Tateidae e.g., Potamopyrgus antipodorum (Gray, 1843), an invasive species from New Zealand that has colonized Australia, Europe, and the Americas (Tair-Abbaci & Garric, 2012), and Ampullariidae e.g., Pomacea canaliculata (Lamarck, 1801), Pomacea scalaris (D’Orbigny, 1835), and Asolene platae (Maton, 1809), species from Argentina (Martin, 1986; Martin, 1987; Martin, 1992). In México, Carreón-Palau et al (2003) studied the reproductive system of Pomacea padula catemacensis (Baker, 1922); in Taiwan Wu et al (2011) studied the reproduction of the invasive the South American apple snails, Pomacea canaliculata (Lamarck, 1822) and Pomacea scalaris (d’Orbigny, 1835) (Ampullariidae)
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