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Variation of egg spot traits of Pomacea canaliculata, an invasive species across latitudes.

ZHANG Can-yu1,2, XU Meng1, FANG Miao1,2, LUO Du1, GU Dang-en1, MU Xi-dong1, WEI Hui1, HU Yin-chang1*#br#   

  1. (1Pearl River Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Key Laboratory of Recreational Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture, Guangzhou 510380, China; 2College of Fisheries and Life Science, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306, China).
  • Online:2017-06-10 Published:2017-06-10

Abstract:

We collected the egg spots of golden apple snails (Pomacea cancliculata) across 11 latitudes (18°N to 28°N) during June to October 2015, which covered the major colonized areas from north to south boundaries in China. We measured the length, width, height, weight, volume of egg spots, and the diameter and number of eggs across latitudes, and analyzed the differences of these traits among latitudes and their relationship with latitude using step regression method. The results indicated that across all latitudes, the egg spot length, width, height, weight and volume were 20-60 mm, 10-26 mm, 6.5-18 mm, 0.6-5.1 g and 1.0-7.0 cm3, with mean values of 35.94 mm, 15.12 mm, 10.53 mm, 1.9 g and 3.0 cm3, respectively. The egg number of each egg spot was 81-621, with an average number of 279. Egg diameter ranged from 1.35 mm to 3.00 mm and the mean diameter was 2.16 mm. There were no significant differences in egg spot length, width, and height among latitudes, while significant differences were observed in egg spot weight and the egg number of each egg spot among latitudes. There were greater egg spot weight and egg diameter at the high latitudes than at the low latitudes. The step regression indicated that, to predict egg number of apple snails at different latitudes, different egg spot traits were needed. For example, the number of eggs could be predicted by egg spot width and volume at 19° N, while only egg spot volume could be used for 20° and 21°N, and egg spot weight could be used for 25°, 26° and 27°N. Generally, the egg spot length (x1), width (x2) and volume (x3) were needed in better predicting egg number (y) across different latitudes by using the following formula: y=3.897x1+9.042x2+46.152x3-135.044. This study provided insights into the spatial variation of reproduction characters, reproduction adaptation and biological control of P. canaliculata colonized in China.
 

Key words: plant diversity, plantation, life form, Baiyun Mountain, forest gap