Invasion potential of the aquarium pet snail Planorbella trivolvis in India: impact of certain abiotic and biotic factors.

Abstract

Planorbella trivolvis (ramshorn snail) is one of India's most extensively sold exotic aquarium pet snails. The unintentional or deliberate release of P. trivolvis may result in the colonisation and establishment as an invasive snail in freshwater ecosystems. However, the successful invasion of P. trivolvis will depend on several abiotic and biotic factors of the concerned freshwater ecosystem. We have assessed the possibility of overcoming the opposing factors in P. trivolvis invasion through laboratory-based experiments and examined the effects of household-derived pollutants on egg hatchability, adult survivability and fecundity, and temperature (15 to 35°C) on growth, sexual maturity, and reproduction. Additionally, we have evaluated the potential of native predators as biotic resistance to invasion by prey-choice experiment. The results indicated that egg hatchability, adult survivability, and fecundity were reduced with increasing pollutant concentration. However, the same traits did not differ from a native freshwater snail, Indoplanorbis exustus. The fecundity of P. trivolvis increased with increasing body size, but no considerable differences at different temperature levels suggest a wide range of adaptation to temperature. Faster growth and the requirement of comparatively few days to attain sexual maturity were observed in the higher temperatures. The native predators, Glossiphonia weberi and Diplonychus rusticus, avoided P. trivolvis as prey over the alternative prey snails in most instances, suggestingthe masking ofbiotic resistance against the colonisation. Our observations indicate that the chance dispersal of P. trivolvis from household or commercial aquaria may lead to a possible invasion of freshwater ecosystems under suitable conditions.