Assassins and apples: the environmental constraints of two snails that threaten Australian aquatic systems
Brenton Bodley A B , Bonnie J. Holmes A C , Samuel M. Williams A D , Ian R. Tibbetts A , Dana D. Burfeind A E and Carmel McDougall
B *
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A The University of Queensland, Saint Lucia, Qld 4072, Australia.
B Australian Rivers Institute and School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Nathan, Qld 4111, Australia.
C University of the Sunshine Coast, Sippy Downs, Qld 4556, Australia.
D Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, EcoSciences Precinct, Dutton Park, Qld 4102, Australia.
E Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane City, Qld 4000, Australia.
Marine and Freshwater Research 73(12) 1510-1519 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF22176
Submitted: 13 December 2021 Accepted: 21 September 2022 Published: 19 October 2022
© 2022 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)
Abstract
Context: Alien freshwater snails pose a substantial risk to Australian native aquatic biota.
Aims: This study aims to determine the thermal and salinity ranges of two introduced species within Australia, Pomacea sp. and Anentome sp., to facilitate predictions of their potential geographic range should they become widely established.
Methods: Laboratory tests were conducted to assess behavioural responses of snails to altered temperature or salinity after different acclimation regimes.
Key results: After acclimation at 25°C, Pomacea sp. had a median activity range of 13.5–38°C and Anentome sp. of 12–38.5°C. Higher acclimation temperatures produced observable effects, whereas lower acclimation temperatures did not. Salinity tolerances differed, with Pomacea sp. remaining active at up to 8 parts per thousand (ppt) (after acclimation at 25°C), with acclimation at 20°C resulting in a lower salinity tolerance. By contrast, Anentome sp. snails were active at up to 5 ppt after low salinity acclimation, demonstrating enhanced salinity tolerance compared with non-salinity acclimations.
Conclusions: These results showed that both snails are capable of surviving temperatures and salinities that would allow invasion into subtropical and warm-temperate Australian aquatic systems.
Implications: Free from the constraints of natural predators, competitors, and parasites, these snails should be of great concern to biosecurity agencies in Australia.
Keywords: Anentome, apple snail, assassin snail, biosecurity, invasive snail, Pomacea, salinity tolerance, thermal tolerance.
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