The effect of trematode invasion and chromium sulphate on the crude protein content in the haemolymph of Viviparus viviparus (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Pectinibranchia)

The combined effect of the trematode infection (Echinoparyphium sp.) and various concentrations of chromium sulphate (0.01, 1, 100 mg/l) onto the crude protein content in the haemolymph of the mollusc Viviparus viviparus was investigated. The normal contents of the crude protein is 0.7-1.22%. In adult specimens its concentration is 20-80% higher than in molluscs of junior age group. Sex difference by this index, which is higher in females, begins to manifest in four year old individuals only. The contents of crude protein in the haemolymph of pregnant females is 1.5 times higher than in latent ones. Under the low intensity of the trematode infection, the contents of crude protein in the haemolymph remains normal, while in the case of heavy infection, it decrease 100 times or lower. In the cases of 0.01-1 mg/l concentrations of chromium sulphate, the content of protein in the haemolymph of V. viviparus decreases, while in the case of 100 mg/l it increases abruptly, in comparison to the norm. The trematode infection intensifies these processes.     

Effect of industrial toxic pollutants on the activity and isoforms of acid DNase in the freshwater snail (Viviparus viviparus L.)

The effect of various toxic compounds (phenol, gasoline, detergents, halogenated benzenes, and copper salts) on the activity and multiple forms of acid DNase was investigated in the liver of the widespread freshwater snail species Viviparus viviparus L. Characteristic variations in the specific activity and isoform pattern of the enzyme depending on pollutant concentration and exposure time were revealed. It was shown that the pattern of DNase isoforms in V. viviparus could be an index of water pollution.     

Zur Morphologie des Ovars von Viviparus contectus (Millet 1813), (Gastropoda,Prosobranchia)

Zusammenfassung Das Ovar von Viviparus contectus besteht, wie licht- und elektronenmikroskopische Untersuchungen ergeben, aus einem langen, terminal verzweigten dünnen Schlauch, dessen Wand von einem Epithel aus Oocyten in allen Entwicklungsstadien und Follikelzellen gebildet wird. Das Vorkommen von Oogonien in den Ovarien adulter Weibchen ist zweifelhaft. Die Follikelzellen sind als Begleitzellen der Oocyten im allgemeinen extrem langgestreckt. Mit ihrer Basis sitzen sie einer dünnen Basalmembran fibrillärer Struktur auf, wie sie bisher nur für Mollusken beschrieben wurde. Die Follikelzellen enthalten große Mengen von Vesikeln, einen bemerkenswert gut ausgebildeten Golgi-Apparat, spärliches rauhes endoplasmatisches Retikulum und zahlreiche heterogene cytosomale Einschlüsse. Charakteristisch für die Zellen sind außerdem in der Längsrichtung liegende cytoplasmatische Mikrotubuli und vereinzelte Kinetosomen. Obwohl keine direkten morphologischen Beziehungen zwischen Follikelzellen und Oocyten festgestellt werden konnten, wird vermutet, daß die Follikelzellen Material degenerierender Oocyten aus dem Lumen des Ovars resorbieren und speichern. Dieses kann den heranwachsenden Oocyten zugute kommen.

---

Morphological investigations on the ovary of Viviparus contectus (millet 1813), (gastropoda, prosobranchia)I. The follicle cells

Summary The ovary of Viviparus contectus was studied light and electron microscopically. It consists of an extended and terminally branched duct, its wall being formed by oocytes of all stages and by follicle cells. The existence of oogonia in the adult females cannot be established with certainty. According to their relationship to the growing oocytes the follicle cells are in general extremely elongated. At the basis they are attached to a thin basement lamina having a fibrillar structure hitherto only known in molluscs. The follicle cells contain many vesicles, a remarkably well-developed golgi apparatus, some rough endoplasmic reticulum, and many heterogeneous cytosomes. Characteristic for these cells are also cytoplasmic microtubules oriented longitudinally along the cell axis. Kinetosomes can rarely be seen. Although there are no apparent direct interrelationships between follicle cells and oocytes, it is suggested that they are engaged in resorbing material of degenerating oocytes from the lumen of the ovary and in storing materials which may be used by the growing oocytes.

Frau Prof. Dr. A. Nolte danke ich für die Überlassung des Themas und Unterstützung bei der Durchführung der Arbeit, Frau R. Dingerdissen, Physikalisches Institut der Universität Münster, für technische Assistenz am Elmiskop.     

Correspondence analysis of shell morphology in the African freshwater snail Biomphalaria pfeifferi (Kraus 1848) (Pulmonata: Gastropoda)

A correspondence analysis of shell measurements taken from 521 widely dispersed specimens of the African aquatic pulmonate snail Biomphalaria pfeifferi suggests the existence of eight morphological groups. These groups appear to relate to either ecophysiological factors or to factors associated with the stability of the freshwater system rather than to aspects of geographic distribution and genetic isolation.     

Biochemical variation and shell shape in populations of the fresh-water snail Lymnaea peregra (Mollusca, Gastropoda, Pulmonata) from south-west Ireland

Lymnaea peregra was collected at sites, predominantly from the Caha plateau, in south-west Ireland. These included sites investigated by previous workers and found to contain populations with a distinctive pattern of variation in shell-shape. Normally spired populations and non-spired ( involuta, sub-involuta ) could occur in adjacent loughs in the same watershed. The biochemical variation in some of these populations was investigated using horizontal starch-gel zone electrophoresis. Fourteen biochemical loci were investigated. Although circumscribed by difficulties in collecting and low sample numbers, the investigation showed that the pattern of variation in shell shape was still present and was not correlated or associated with the biochemical variation. While this did not support hypotheses of geographic race formation or incipient speciation, it was in agreement with the current view of variation and speciation in fresh-water pulmonates.     

The digestive gland of Viviparus ater (Mollusca, Gastropoda, Prosobranchia): an ultrastructural and histochemical study

The digestive gland of Viviparus ater was studied using histochemical and ultrastructural methods. Only one cell type was observed in the tubule epithelium of the gland. The cells are involved in an endocytotic process mediated by clathrin-coated vesicles and in the intracellular digestion of food materials (thus they can be regarded as digestive cells). The different stages of digestion and exocytotic extrusion of residual bodies into the tubule lumen were shown by electron microscopy. Very few, small mucocytes are scattered among the digestive cells. Calcium concretions, glycogen-containing cells and endocrine cells are scattered in the area of connective tissue present among the digestive tubules.     

Natural selection for apostasy and crypsis acting on the shell colour polymorphism of a mangrove snail, Littoraria filosa (Sowerby) (Gastropoda: Littorinidae)

Littoraria filosa (Sowerby) is a member of the L. scabra group, found amongst the foliage of mangrove trees in northern Australia. The colour of the shell is polymorphic, showing two discrete ground colours, either yellow or orange-pink, with a variable degree of superimposed brown patterning. At a site on Magnetic Island, northern Queensland, colour frequencies of small snails were similar on different backgrounds. Amongst larger shells yellows were more frequent on Avicennia trees with abundant foliage, and browns on relatively bare trees, suggesting that visual selection for crypsis occurred. There was no evidence of substrate selection by the morphs. Yellow shells were cooler than brown shells, but differences in colour frequencies on sunny and shaded trees, and at different seasons, did not suggest climatic selection. By manipulating the colour frequencies of subpopulations of small snails isolated on individual trees, it was shown that the disappearance of yellow and brown shells was frequency-dependent. This result is consistent with hypotheses of mimicry of background elements by the morphs and of apostatic selection by unknown predators. Only the latter can account for the persistence of the highly conspicuous pink morph at a low frequency.     

Homing behaviour of the giant African snail,Achatina fulica (Ferussac) (Gastropoda; Pulmonata)

Homing ability ofAchatina fulica was studied in the field by mark-recapture experiments. Snails hid in resting sites in the day and crept out in the rain or at night. Young adults dispersed for longer distance than old adults. Old adults seldom changed resting sites, while young adults changed them left almost every day. It was only young adults that the study site or came in from other areas. In transfer experiments, old adults returned to the initial resting sites in 5 days. These results suggest that old adults have a homing ability, while young adults do not show it clearly. The homing ability ofA. fulica is age-dependent. These differences may be related to the maturation pattern of the reproductive organ.     

The eye of the freshwater prosobranch gastropod Viviparus viviparus: ultrastructure, electrophysiology and behaviour

We used light and electron microscopy to study the retinal organization of the eye of Viviparus viviparus. Electroretinogram (ERG) recordings were used to investigate the electrophysiological responsiveness to flashes of light of varying intensity and colour, behavioural observations were made of phototactic reactions, and optical measurements and calculations related to the path of light rays in the eye were made. The retina contains principally two types of cells: first, photoreceptor cells with both microvilli and cilia, and second, cells, often strongly pigmented, that are supportive in nature. The ERGs obtained were essentially similar in form, amplitude and duration to those known from other gastropods that have exclusively rhabdomeric photoreceptors. Spectral sensitivity curves closely fitted the absorption spectrum of a rhodopsin‐like pigment. The spectral sensitivity peak was at 475 nm. Measurements of the refractive indices of the lens gave values of 1.55 for the outer layer and 1.57 for the lens core. None of the snails tested exhibited a ‘defensive reflex’ and although no preference between light and dark regions was expressed, we nevertheless argue that, on the basis of optical measurements and calculations, the eye of V. viviparus is well‐adapted for seeing under water. Our main conclusion is that in the eye of V. viviparus with its ‘mixed photoreceptor’ cell type, there is an equal probability for microvilli and cilia to function as principal photoreceptive elements.     

Pan-European phylogeography of the aquatic snail Theodoxus fluviatilis (Gastropoda: Neritidae)

Investigating the geographical distribution of genetic lineages within species is critical to our understanding of how species evolve. As many species inhabit large and complex ranges, it is important that phylogeographical research take into account the entire range of widespread species to clarify how myriad extrinsic variables have affected their evolutionary history. Using phylogenetic, nested clade, and mismatch distribution analyses on a portion of the mitochondrial COI gene, I demonstrate that the wide-ranging freshwater snail Theodoxus fluviatilis possesses in parallel many of the phylogeographical patterns seen in less widespread freshwater species of Europe. Fragmentary forces play a major part in structuring the range of this species, with 12 of 14 geographically structured nested clades displaying a distribution consistent with fragmentation or restricted dispersal. Certain regions of southern Europe harbour the majority of genetic diversity (total haplotype diversity, H = 0.87), particularly Italy (H = 0.87) and areas surrounding the Black Sea (H = 0.81). Post-Pleistocene range expansion is pronounced, with the majority of northern European populations (95% of sample sites) having arisen from northern Italian individuals that initially colonized northern Germany. Additionally, two highly divergent haplotype lineages present in northern Germany imply that there were at least two postglacial recolonization routes. Estuaries may also provide a means of dispersal given that no genetic differentiation was found between estuarine populations and neighbouring freshwater populations. Taken together, these data reveal a species with a complex genetic history resulting from the fragmentary effects of European geology as well as continuous and discrete range expansion related to their aquatic biology.     

Development of 10 microsatellite loci in the pulmonate snail Biomphalaria kuhniana (Mollusca, Gastropoda)

We characterized 10 variable microsatellite loci in the freshwater snail Biomphalaria kuhniana, as well as conditions for multiplexing and co-loading sets of loci. Two to five alleles were detected per locus over the two studied populations in Venezuela. High inbreeding coefficients suggest high selfing rates. Cross-species amplification provided some variability at eight and three loci in the other species belonging to the Biomphalaria straminea complex (B. straminea and B. intermedia), but was unsuccessful in more divergent species.     

Characterization of 15 microsatellite loci in the pulmonate snail Pseudosuccinea columella (Mollusca, Gastropoda)

We characterized 15 new variable microsatellites in the freshwater snail Pseudosuccinea (Lymnaea) columella, as well as conditions for multiplexing and simultaneously genotyping sets of loci. Two to six alleles were detected per locus over the six populations studied. Gene diversity ranged from 0.000 to 0.498, but essentially no heterozygous individuals were observed. This resulted in extremely high F(IS) estimates, and therefore high selfing rates. The F(ST) estimates ranged from 0.18 to 1 among populations, but was generally high. These markers will constitute efficient tools for investigating the population structure of this invasive species. Cross-species amplification was on the whole unsuccessful.