Debjit Mondal, Pranesh Paul, Sujeeta De, Chilka Saha, Rupsha Karmakar, Gautam Aditya

Effect of plant diet variation and competition on the fecundity of two co-occurring snails: A competitive quest

Abstract The invasion success of non-native species depends on their life-history traits and the abiotic and biotic barriers of the recipient ecosystems. Among the biotic factors, competition with native species may restrict the invasion potential of non-native species. Additionally, the presence of macrophytes in freshwater ecosystems may provide food resources that are known to influence the life-history traits of freshwater snails. In this study, we focused on an invasive snail Physella acuta and a co-occurring native snail Racesina luteola to explore the effect of different plant (garden lettuce, water lettuce, duckweed and eelgrass) diets on their fecundity in intra- and interspecific competitive scenarios. Being a successful invader worldwide, P. acuta has demonstrated competitive advantages over co-occurring snails in various regions. The results of this study imply that P. acuta laid a significantly higher number of eggs per individual than R. luteola under both intra- and interspecific competition and plant diets. Hence, the resource utilization ability of P. acuta, even with less productive plant diets (e.g., water lettuce and eelgrass), may potentially lead to the competitive displacement of the native snail R. luteola.

Doi https://doi.org/10.35513/21658005.2024.1.4

Keywords Competition; freshwater; macrophyte; non-native snail; Physella; Racesina

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