The relationship between the Nigerian garden snail Limicolaria aurora and the moss Hyophila crenulata

Abstract

A possible relationship between the moss, Hyophila crenulata and the Nigerian garden snail, Limicolaria aurora was investigated. Freshly ground moss paste, unground moss, waterleaf (Talinum triangulare) paste, a mixture of ground moss and cassava starch paste (1 : 1) and cassava starch paste alone were fed to different groups of snails for 10 days. A field experiment in which some snails were restricted to the moss population on a drainage wall for 10 days was also carried out. There was a significant difference in the live weight of the different groups of snails (P, 0.05) in the laboratory experiment. The group fed with moss paste had a significantly higher live weight than any of the other groups. The group fed with unground moss and those in the field experiment actually lost weight indicating an inability to feed on and digest the whole moss. The results indicate that the snails use the moss, which is always moist and cool, only as habitat and not as food. Thus the nutrients trapped within the cells of mosses may only enter the nutrient cycle of the ecosystem when the moss dies and decomposes or by mechanical crushing.