Golden apple snail: The dangerous pest on rice
Common names: Golden snail (English), Golden apple snail (English), Channeled applesnail (English), Apple snail (English),
Gelbe Apfelschnecke (German), Golden kuhol (English-Philippines), Miracle snail
(English-Philippines).
Scientific name: Pomacea canaliculata
(Lamarck, 1819)
Synonyms: Ampullaria canaliculata Lamarck, 1822
Classification
Kingdom:
|
Animalia
|
Phylum:
|
Mollusca
|
Class:
|
Gastropoda
|
(unranked):
|
clade Caenogastropoda
informal group Architaenioglossa
|
Superfamily:
|
Ampullarioidea
|
Family:
|
Ampullariidae
|
Genus:
|
Pomacea
|
Subgenus:
|
Pomacea
|
Species:
|
Pomacea canaliculata (Lamarck, 1819)
|
The Family of
apple snails (Ampullariidae J. E. Gray, 1824) has 105-170 freshwater species with 9
genera and more than 150
nominal species. The Synonyms of this family is Pilidae.
This family consists of two subfamilies
(according to the taxonomy
of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005), that used classification by
Berthold (1991):
-Tribe Ampullariini Gray, 1824 - synonyms: Pilidae Preston, 1915 (inv.); Lanistimae Starobogatov, 1983; Pomaceinae Starobogatov,
1983.
-Tribe Sauleini Berthold, 1991.
There are 9 extant genera in the family
Ampullariidae:
+Tribe Ampullariini Gray
Ampullaria , Pila, Lanistes, Pomacea.
+Tribe Sauleini: Saulea , Asolene, Felipponea,
Marisa , Pomella .
The Golden apple snail Pomacea
canaliculata is
classified under the canaliculata complex.
This is a groups of very closely related species which are very variable in
size and appearance.
The relative species:
-Pomacea diffusa.
-Pomacea paludosa.
-Pomacea patula catemacensis Baker
-Pomacea maculata, raremy makes its way
Origin and distribution of the golden apple snails (GAS)
The GAS Pomacea canaliculata is widely distributed in the lentic habitats throughout the
Amazon Inferior
Basin and the Plata
Basin : Southeast Brazil, Argentina , Bolivia ,
Paraguay and Uruguay
Pomacea
canaliculata is a species of
large freshwater snail with gills and an operculum,
an aquatic gastropod mollusk in
the family Ampullariidae, the apple snails.
Native
range: temperate Argentina
The native distribution of P.canaliculata is
basically tropical and subtropical, including Argentina , Bolivia , Paraguay , Uruguay , and Brazil Buenos
Aires province, Argentina
Non-indigennous distribution
This species also occurs in the United States California and Hawaii
Introduced range:
Last decades GAS Pomacea
canaliculata has spread to
South-East Asia and can now be found in Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia,
Hong Kong, southern China, Japan and the Philippines. The snail also invaded in
the Southern parts of the USA
(Texas and Florida ,
upto central Ohio Australia
Most of southern, eastern
and south-east Asia, including the Philippines, Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam,
Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, Korea, Sri Lanka, parts of Indonesia and Malaysia,
southern China, Singapore; also Hawai‘i, Guam, and Papua New Guinea; the
Dominican Republic; the USA (Florida, Texas, California).
The species has been found in China China
Pomacea canaliculata is also a very common in the aquarium trade, but its
voracious appetite gives the GAS family in general a bad reputation in
the aquarium hobby.
Genera Pomacea are New
World genera
(native to South America, Central America, the West Indies and the Southern U.S.A. ).The genera Afropomus, Lanistes,
and Saulea are
found in Africa.The genus Pila is
native to both Africa and Asia .
Description
-Organism type: mollusc
Pomacea
canaliculata is a freshwater snail with a voracious appetite for water plants
including lotus, water chestnut, taro and rice. Introduced widely from its
native South America by the aquarium trade and as a source of human food, it is
a major crop pest in south east Asia (primarily in rice) and Hawaii
-Body: The
colour of the body varies from yellow (cultivated), brown to nearly black, with
yellow spots on the siphon, but not as much on the mouth as in. When
at rest, the tentacles are curled under the shell.
-Shell description
The shells of
these apple snails are globular in shape. Normal coloration typically includes
bands of brown, black, and yellowish-tan; color patterns are extremely
variable. Albino and
gold color variations exist.
The size of the shell can be up to 75 mm in
length.
The shell of this apple snail species is globose and
relatively heavy (especially in older snails). The 5 to 6 whorls are separated
by a deep, indented suture (hence the name 'canaliculata' or 'channeled'). The
shell opening (aperture) is large and oval to round. Males are known to have a
rounder aperture than females. The umbilicus is large and deep. The overal
shell shape is similar to that of Pomacea
lineata, except the deeper sutures and more globose shape in canaliculata.
The size of these snails varies from 40 to 60 mm wide and
45 to 75 mm high depending on the conditions.
The colour
varies completely yellow and green (cultivated forms) to brown with or without
dark spiral bands (wild form). The shell growth of this species occurs mainly
in spring and summer, while it stagnates in fall and winter.
Large (up to 7 cm), more
or less globular freshwater snails. Aquarium trade snails are often smaller.
Shell colour generally brownish or greenish, often with spiral banding patterns
around the whorls. Some aquarium bred animals are bright golden yellow. Body
colour can vary from dark, almost black to pale cream. Their presence is often
first noted by observation of their bright pink egg masses laid on solid
surfaces up to about 50cm above the water surface.
-Operculum: The
operculum is moderately thick and corneous. The structure is concentric with
the nucleus near the centre of the shell. The colour varies light (in young
snails) to dark brown. The operculum can be retracted in the aperture (shell
opening).
-Eggs: The
reddish (due to the high carotenoid content) eggs are loosely attached to each
other. They are attached on object above the waterline and their size varies
from 2.20 to 3.5 mm (0.09 to 0.14 inch) diameter. An average clutch contains
200 to 600 eggs.
Pomacea canaliculata depositing the
eggs on a trunk.
Eggs of the non-native Pomacea canaliculata on a rock at the
border of the Kranji Reservoir ,
Singapore
Note that the bright orange colour is hidden by the dry surface.
Pomacea canaliculata is more likely to eat your plants, which makes it less suitable for most
aquaria. These snails also come in different shell and body colours.
Life cycle of the golden apple snails (GAS)
+Adult
This species,
unlike most snails known to common people, is not androgynous but
gonochoristic. It means it has males and females! GAS P. canaliculata is sexual mature at the size of 2.5 cm/1 inch. Sexes are separate.
-Females lay clusters of bright pink eggs attached to solid surfaces (rocks, walls, logs, emergent vegetation, trash) up to usually about 50cm above the water surface.
-Females lay clusters of bright pink eggs attached to solid surfaces (rocks, walls, logs, emergent vegetation, trash) up to usually about 50cm above the water surface.
Many apple GAS deposit the eggs above the waterline in a calcareous clutch.
This remarkably strategy of these aquatic snails protect their eggs against
predation by fish and other water inhabitants. The apple snail
genera Pomacea and Pila,
is the tubular siphon at their left side, used to breathe air
while they stay submerged, thus making them less vulnerable to snail eating birds.
The
reproductive rate of this snail varies with the temperature and partly by the
availability of food. During
fall and winter, the reproduction rate is at its lowest point, while with the
raising temperatures in spring their reproduction rate increases.
There are more
ways to determine the snail's sex, not all of them are 100% sure. At a
temperature of 25oC (77oF/298oK), breeding is
at maximum rate.
Reproductive output can
be enormous. Clutch size is up to 1000, but averages probably 200-300. Clutches
are laid every few weeks.
-Eggs:The female lays its eggs above the water surface at a clutch containing about 200-600 eggs.These eggs will hatch within about 2-3 weeks, depending on temperature an humidity of the air (the air above the water surface should have high humidity)- thus, a glass cover on the tank is essential (water level should be about 5-7.5cm/2-3inch below the glass cover).
Eggs generally hatch within 10-20 days, but may take longer,
probably depending on ambient temperature regime. In temperate climates the
egg-laying period of this species extends from early spring to early fall while
in tropical areas reproduction is continuous. The duration of the reproductive
period of P.
canaliculata decreases with latitude, to a minimum of six months in the
southern limit of its natural distribution.
-The young snails are about 2.5mm
(0.09inch) after hatching and immediately start eating; they will also need a
constant supply of calcium (both in water and by food). Keeping the young
snails with the adults might become a problem after a while, due to competition
over food and calcium,so it is advisable to grow them separately. The young
snails get to sexual maturity at the size of about 2.5cm (1inch).
Longevity is up to 4
years. Reproductive maturity is reached in 3 months to 2 years, depending on
ambient temperature regime.
Habitat
Breathing
The Golden
Apple Snail is amphibious. While there is a sufficient level of dissolved
oxygen in the water, they will hardly leave the water and will breathe by their
gills. If the level of dissolved oxygen gets to low, the snails will go up to
the surface and breathe with their lung (mostly by using its siphon, a tube
that it extracts to the water surface). While filling their lung with air, the
snails extract and contract their body, so that the pressure differences cause
their lung to deplete and refill.
Feeding habits of the golden snails (GAS)
GAS Pomacea canaliculata is extremely polyphagous,
feeding on vegetal (primarily macrophytophagous, feeding on floating or
submersed higher
plants), detrital, and animal matter. Diet may vary with age, with younger
smaller individuals feeding on algae and detritus, and older, bigger (15mm and
above) individuals later shifting to higher plants.
In captivity, as well as eating vegetables and
fish food pellets, GAS will also eat other foods if they are available.
They will sometimes eat brine shrimps and other
frozen foods, or dead fish and insects. Generally, they will also eat any of
the microscopic vegetation that grow on the tank rocks or walls. Snails will
climb out of the water to reach food that is above the waterline. Because of
their ability to do this they have become a nuisance in Asia ,
where they feed on crops.
This species negatively impacts rice and taro agriculture
worldwide where it has been introduced. This species lives in freshwater habitat.
A highly generalist and
voracious macrophytophagous herbivore. Most plants are eaten, though it does
show some preferences, for instance in Hawai‘i it will not eat water hyacinth.
Eats almost
all types of plants.
As this snail is fast growing, it needs calcium rich water, so it
can grow with a healthy shell - the calcium is used as calcium - carbonate to
create the shell, lack of calcium will cause the shell to be thinner and more
susceptible to breaking and eventually, the snail will die.
Ecology for the golden apple snails (GAS)
The GAS are amphibious animals; They are widely distributed in lakes, ponds and swamps throughout its native range of the Amazon Inferior Basin and the Plata Basin
The GAS are exceptionally well adapted to tropical regions characterized by periods of drought alternating with periods of high rainfall. This adaptation is reflected in their life style; they are moderately amphibious. They have an operculum which enables the snail to seal the shell entrance to prevent drying out while they are buried in the mud during dry periods.
In captivity, GAS are most active at night. During the day they usually retreat to somewhere shaded. In an aquarium that is well lit, the exterior of the shell of apple snails may grow filamentous green algae. This is one possible source of food for juvenile snails.
The activity rate of this
snail varies highly with the water temperature. At 18°C they hardly move
around, this in contrast with higher temperatures e.g. 25°C.In captivity, GAS are most active at night. During the day they usually retreat to somewhere shaded. In an aquarium that is well lit, the exterior of the shell of apple snails may grow filamentous green algae. This is one possible source of food for juvenile snails.
PH should be
in range of 6.5-7.5, best at 7.
Water hardness
(GH and KH) isn't significant.
Water contain HEAVY METALS are lethal to the snails!
Pomacea canaliculata is more resistant to
lower temperatures than most other snails from the genus Pomacea .
The golden apple snail (GAS) is a dangerous rice pest in Asia
The GAS Pomacea canaliculata
(Lamarck) is a recently introduced rice pest in Asia . The planting method greatly influences the period of susceptibility to
snail damage: wetbed-transplanted 20-day-old seedlings were less damaged than
dapog-transplanted 13-day-old seedlings or direct-seeded rice.
Seedlings 30
days old were more tolerant of snail damage than younger seedlings.
The GAS Pomacea canalicualata was originally introduced from South
America to south-east Asia around 1980s, as a
local food resource and as a potential gourmet export item. The markets never
developed; the snails escaped or were released, and P. canaliculata became a serious pest of rice throughout
many countries of south-east Asia .
The GAS now is a major rice exotic
invasive pest in Asia . The yield loss caused
by P. canaliculata in
rice was estimated varying from 5 % to 100 % depending on locality and the
level of infestation in most Asian countries. In China ,
GAS was first introduced into Guangdong province of China
In the Philippines Indonesia , Thailand , Cambodia , Hong Kong, southern China , Japan and the Philippines and there are indications that they are currently invading Australia
In the 1980's, GAS Pomacea canaliculata was introduced inTaiwan
It was introduced to Hawai‘i in 1989, probably from thePhilippines ,
and for the same reasons as for its initial introduction to south-east Asia .
In the 1980's, GAS Pomacea canaliculata was introduced in
It was introduced to Hawai‘i in 1989, probably from the
Already, introduced P. canaliculata has been implicated in the decline of
native species of Pila apple snails
in south-east Asia . Also, native species of Pila in the Philippines
This parasite spends a part of its life cycle in apple
snails and can infect humans when the snail isn't cooked long enough before consumption. Instead of becoming a food source they escaped, and became a serious pest, posing a real threat to the rice production and
the environment.
Instead of becoming a valuable food source, the
introduced snails escaped and became a serious threat to rice production and
the native ecosystems. During the 1980s the introduced snails rapidly spread to Indonesia , Thailand , Cambodia , Hong Kong, southern China , Japan
and the Philippines
In 1989 GAS Pomacea canaliculata was
introduced in Hawaii
Recent
research reveals the catastrophic nature of the Pomacea invasion
in new habitats: the snail herbivory drastically alters the state and function
of invaded natural wetlands. When the plants are consumed, nutrients in the
system are shunted to phytoplankton instead of the plants which creates dense
algal blooms (Carlsson et al in press. 2004).
InChina , GAS was first introduced into Guangdong
In
Z. latifolia, is one of the most
important aquatic and economic vegetable crops cultivated in the Southeast China since ancient time (Guo, 2007). Nowadays,
around 100 thousands hectares of Z. latifolia were planted in more than ten
provinces in China
The yield loss
caused by GAS in rice was estimated varying from 5 % to 100 % depending on
locality and the level of infestation in most Asian countries (Halwart, 1994;
Naylor, 1996).
Numerous
measures have been taken to control GAS, in Z. latifolia fields. The molluscicide was usually
used to kill GAS with a serious environmental and human health consequence, and
the hand-picking was proved to be a time-consuming work (Yu et al., 2001; Chen
et al., 2003). Thus, local farmers did not adopt these methods extensively for
GAS control.
Recently, the
biological control was applied to suppress the occurrence of GAS by releasing
biological agents such as fishes and ducks in crop fields. However, due to the
low efficiency of fishes and ducks, especially for controlling the adult GAS
(Yoshie and Yusa, 2008), the Chinese soft-shelled turtle (Pelodiscus
sinensis), was tentatively selected as a new biological agent to control
GAS in Z. latifolia field (Zheng et al., 2005).
P. sinensis is widely distributed in Eastern Asia and usually take up 4 ~ 6 years to reach
sexual maturity adulthood. P. sinensis consumes insect larvae, small fish,
small aquatic animals and seeds of marsh plants (Nuangsaeng and
Boonyaratapalin, 2001). Furthermore, P. sinensis is of high commercial value and is
commonly cultured in Malaysia ,
Indonesia and China
Human uses from Golden apple snails (GAS)
Use as a human food item
In Veracruz , Mexico Lake Catemaco
In Northeast Thailand these
snails are collected and consumed. They are picked by hand or with a handnet
from canals, swamps, ponds and flooded rice paddy fields during the rainy
season. During the dry season when these snails are concealed under dried mud,
collectors use a spade to scrape
the mud in order to find them. The snails are usually collected by women and
children. After collection, the
snails are cleaned and parboiled. They are then taken out of their shells, cut,
and cleaned in salted water. After rinsing with water, they are mixed with
roasted rice, dried chili, lime
juice, and fish sauce, and then eaten.
Note! Parasites in
Golden apple snails
In China
and Southeast Asia , consumption of raw or
undercooked snails of Pomacea
canaliculata and
other snails is the primary route of infection with Angiostrongylus
cantonensis causing angiostrongyliasis.
This parasite can infect humans if snails are
eaten that have not been thoroughly cooked first. Approximately 1.0 % of
the Pomacea
canaliculata on
sale on local markets in Dali
City , Yunnan , China
Use as a common aquarium animal
In the 1980s, GAS Pomacea canaliculata was
introduced in Taiwan
The common GAS is Pomacea
canaliculata; this snail is more likely to eat aquatic plants, which makes
it less suitable for most aquaria. This species can also have different shell
and body colours.
This species is considered to be in the top 100 of
the "World's Worst Invasive Alien
Species".
Use as a bio-control agent
Pomacea and Marisa species
have been introduced to Africa and Asia in an
attempt to control other medically problematic snails in the family
Planorbidae: Bulinus species
and Biophalaria species,
which serve as intermediate hosts for trematoda parasites.
These parasites can cause swimmers itch and schistosomiasis,
a disease that affects over 200 million people in tropical regions. One of the
species introduced as bio-agent is Marisa cornuarietis; this snail
competes with other snails and also directly preys on other species.
Management of golden apple snails (GAS) in wetland rice
Preventative measures
The primary management approach must be
prevention. Strict quarantine must be enforced to prevent introduction and spread.
Incipient invasions must be eradicated rapidly while it is still possible to do
this. For rice and taro fields, it is preferable to use plants from areas that
are known to be apple snail free.
If that's not possible, examine the plants
and make sure that there are no apple snails or other unwanted snails and also
check for egg clutches. The use of a screen on water inlets helps to retard the
spread of apple snails. Screens should be cleaned regularly to obstruction.
Around rice and taro fields, a barrier of copper could be used to slow the
snail spreading to some extent. Copper is toxic to snails and they do not cross
this material. The copper wire or strip should be placed above the water level,
on the border of the field.
Control
Eradication of
established populations is probably not possible. Numerous measures have been
tried in attempts to control GAS in agricultural settings. These
include: widespread use of pesticides, with serious environmental and human
health consequences; biological control, notably the use of fish and ducks; a
range of cultural and mechanical control measures. None has proven entirely
effective, safe, and economically viable. None is likely to be appropriate in
natural ecosystems.
In rice and
taro fields, hand picking is a successful method to control GAS populations without harming the environment. The disadvantage is that it only
works when done on regular base. The best results are obtained if the hand
picking is done as a community effort. All visible snails should be collected
with a scoop net or by hand. After collection the snails can be used for human
consumption (beware of parasites!), crushed to serve as a food source for fish
or destroyed otherwise.
Eggs should
not be forgotten during collection! Baited traps filled with lettuce, cassava
and taro leaves can be used to attract the snails and to facilitate the
collection. All vegetation and obstacles around fields should be removed as
much as possible as the snails need this to deposit their eggs. When there are
no suitable eggs-laying sites available, the snails are forced to deposit the
eggs on the bare ground where the eggs are very vulnerable and easily fall into
the water, which drowns the eggs. Before draining a field, make shallow
trenches so that the snails will congregate in the trenches and can be captured
easily.
This species has been
nominated as among 100 of the "World's Worst" invaders.
Biological control of golden apple snails (GAS)
Biological control of GAS Pomacea
canaliculata by Chinese soft-shelled turtle, Pelodiscus sinensis in
the wild rice, Zizania latifolia field
Source: Shengzhang Dong; Guowan Zheng; Xiaoping Yu; Changhuan Fu
The wild rice, Zizania latifolia Turcz, used to be one of the important
aquatic vegetables cultivated in China
The optimum
number of P. sinensis released in Z. latifolia field was dependent on the density of
over-wintered GAS, and varied between 30 and 50 turtles per 666.7 m2.
The number of GAS declined in the fields with turtles as compared to turtle-free
field. A pattern of releasing P.
sinensis in Z. latifolia fields was developed and widely
adopted by farmers because of much more benefit besides biologically
controlling GAS.
This feeding
behavior was also found in common carp Cyprinuscarpio (Teo, 2006). It is concluded that P. sinensis is one of the most hopeful biological
agents for GAS because they not only prey the young snails, but also attack the
adult ones efficiently.
To control
GAS, several effective predators have been introduced into agricultural
ecosystem, including various ducks and fishes (Teo, 2001; 2006). Domestic ducks
were proven effective for biological control of young GAS in paddy field and
could prey equally well under low and high pest population densities (Cowie,
2002).
In conclusion,
both laboratory trials and field survey results showed that using P. sinensis biologically to control GAS was
recommended as an optimal method in wild rice fields infected by GAS.
Control of Golden Apple Snails (GAS) by Tillage and Crop Rotation Techniques
Tillage
Tillage and
soil puddling crush snails. The effect varies depending on the snail size and
soil hardness. Tillage has greater effects on larger snails. Ten to 40% of GAS
smaller than 20 mm are killed by tillage, while 40-90% mortalities are attained
with GAS bigger than 20 mm. GAS mortalities are 14-20% higher when soil is
compacted (hard) after rice harvest than when soil is friable (soft) after the
harvest of wheat (winter crop with no irrigation).
Deep cultivation
is not necessary because 80% of GAS are found within 6 cm depth of soil. Higher
mortalities are attained by intensive tillage, where a field with compacted
soil is tilled shallow with a faster cultivator rotation, resulting in smaller
cultivation pitch. Puddling using a paddy harrow is also effective. A field
experiment revealed that when the average GAS size was 21 mm, GAS density was
reduced by 40% after puddling. Thus, tillage and puddling are good methods for
decreasing GAS density before growing of paddy crops.
Crop Rotation
Crop rotation
is a practical way to significantly reduce GAS density in a paddy field in Japan Japan
Drainage immobilizes snails.
More
preventative measures should be undertaken in high-risk (>/2 snails m than
in low-risk 2 snails m -z) fields. Snails can be controlled in low-risk fields
by employing one or two cultural methods.
Dapog or
direct-seeded methods would benefit from drainage and mechanical control
(hand-picking).
Using molluscicide at low dosage
If cultural
methods cannot be carried out, snails can be controlled with molluscicide at
low dosage. High-risk fields, on the other hand, should be protected with a
combination of cultural and mechanical methods. These methods can be
substituted with low or high dosages of molluscicide. Molluscicide alone, however,
requires a dosage of (1.5 kg a.i. ha which most farmers cannot afford.
References
3-http://www.mendeley.com/research/management-golden-apple-snail-pomacea-canaliculata-lamarck-rice-13/
7- TV news on the topic: http://www.tv3.cat/videos/1478229/El-caragol-poma-envaeix-lEbre.
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