Meeting Abstract
The apple snail Pomacea maculata is a nuisance invasive with the potential to become an ecological and agricultural threat in the southeastern United States. To gain insight into the ability of the snails to survive in intermittent bodies of water, such as rice fields, the survival of the animals while exposed to air was studied. Apple snails (Pomacea maculata) were collected from local bayous during the spring and summer months and subsequently weighed and tagged. Snails were fed lettuce and maintained in large, indoor, temperature controlled aquaria. Eight snails were then randomly selected, weighed, and placed in individual Petri dishes to induce aestivation. Snails were maintained at room temperature and a humidity between 60%-70%. They were weighed daily for three months, then weekly for the remainder of the experiment. Weight was calculated as a percentage of the weight on day one of the experiment, due to variation in the onset of aestivation among individual snails. Fifty percent of the snails survived 307 days while maintaining 70% of their body mass. Upon re-immersion in water, the surviving snails became active within 24 hr. There was no additional mortality. These results suggest that de-watering rice fields may not deter establishment of apple snails.
