Meeting Abstract

P3.111  Sunday, Jan. 6  Effects of foot size on crawling speed in mucociliary locomotion TURNER, MA*; CHAPMAN, A; BALTZLEY, MJ; Western Oregon University; Western Oregon University; Western Oregon University mturner11@wou.edu

Most snails crawl using muscular contractions of the foot. However, a number of snails and slugs crawl using mucociliary locomotion, where propulsion is generated by beating cilia within a layer of secreted mucus. In species that crawl using muscular locomotion, crawling speed is correlated with foot size: the longer the foot, the faster the snail crawls. It has been hypothesized that crawling speed is not correlated with foot size in mocuciliary crawlers. We tested this hypothesis in two species thought to crawl using mucociliary locomotion, Stagnicola sp. and Helisoma anceps. We also tested whether applying a 0.01 M NaCl solution to the snail could be used to reliably stimulate crawling. The average crawling speed before we used the NaCl solution for Stagnicola sp. was 1.09 ± 0.16 mm/sec (± SEM), similar to the average maximum crawling speed for other species in the family Lymnaeidae. For H. anceps, the average crawling speed before we used the NaCl solution was 0.34 ± 0.08 mm/sec. There was no significant change in speed of crawling in either species after we used the NaCl solution. We also found no significant relationship between foot size and speed of crawling in either species. For comparison, we will also present data on the relationship between foot size and crawling speed in Helix aspersa, a snail that crawls using muscular locomotion.