Reproductive aspects of the poorly known and critically endangered freshwater snail Heleobia atacamensis (Gastropoda: Truncatelloidea)

PeerJ

article

Gonzalo A. Collado¹  Elizabeth Chihuailaf²  Natalia Muñoz-Herrera²  Manuel Contreras²  Fernando Novoa²  Moisés A. Valladares¹ 

[1] Departamento de Ciencias Básicas, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad del Bío-Bío;Centro de Ecología Aplicada

关键词: Development type;    Protoconch;    Reproductive cycle;    Sex ratio;    Sexual dimorphism;    Shell shape variation;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.11550

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

Knowing the reproductive biology of threatened species is essential for conservation and to establish proper management plans. Heleobia atacamensis, a freshwater snail only known from two locations in the Atacama Saltpan, northern Chile, is currently classified as Data Deficient on the IUCN Red List and Critically Endangered by the Ministerio del Medio Ambiente of Chile. Based on size-frequency distribution, multivariate analysis of shell measurements, and microdissections, we studied the reproductive strategy, recruitment period, sex ratio and sexual dimorphism in this species. Heleobia atacamensis is an oviparous species, with direct development (non-planktotrophic). Females lay capsules of a single egg from which a juvenile resembling a miniature adult hatches after intracapsular metamorphosis is completed. The development type was confirmed by the observation of a paucispiral protoconch (= protoconch I) using scanning electron microscopy. Recruitment was observed across the four seasons of the year, with an increment at the end of austral summer. Results also showed that sex ratio was 1:1, whereas sexual dimorphism was not detected using univariate and multivariate analysis of the shell. The reproductive data provided in this study are a starting point for future management plans.

【 授权许可】

CC BY