Life cycle of the apple snail Pomacea canaliculata (Caenogastropoda: Ampullariidae) inhabiting Japanese paddy fields

Abstract

The life cycle of the apple snail Pomacea canaliculata was monitored over 2- and 1-year periods in Nara (cold district) and Kumamoto (warm district), respectively. The life cycles were similar in both districts: most hatchlings appeared after August, and although some had grown to ≥ 20 mm by autumn, the majority of juveniles remained < 20 mm. The survival rate over winter was very low (< 1%) in Nara, and moderately low (9%) in Kumamoto. After winter, survivors grew rapidly with low mortality, reproduced actively in summer, and most died during the following winter. The survival rate during mid-term drying (drying of fields for about 2 weeks in summer) in Nara was high (ca. 90%) in both years. In Nara, snail density after winter decreased to 1/43 of that in Kumamoto, but survivors in Nara grew larger and laid more eggs. Due to these effects, egg density in July, and also snail density in September, in Nara recovered to ca. 1/3 of that in Kumamoto.