Do Micro Snails Follow Conspecific Mucous Trails? Experiments with<i>Vallonia excentrica</i>(Pulmonata: Valloniidae)

Johnson, Cooper; Pearce, Timothy A.

doi:10.4003/006.031.0116

Cited by 3 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…; Shaheen et al. ; Johnson & Pearce ). Mucous trail recognition and trail following are known to be used by snail predators for prey tracking (Chase ; Levri ; Sugiura & Yamaura ; Sugiura et al.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Various authors have concluded that the gastropod mucous trail can act as a means of intra-and interspecific communication, and may be involved in information transfer to conspecifics as well as to other snails and animals (reviewed by Ng et al 2013). Some of the purposes of tracking behavior invoked include locating food and mates by detecting and following specific chemical cues present in mucous trails (Croll 1983;Chase 1986;Clifford et al 2003;Shaheen et al 2005;Johnson & Pearce 2013). Mucous trail recognition and trail following are known to be used by snail predators for prey tracking (Chase 1986;Levri 1998;Sugiura & Yamaura 2009;Sugiura et al 2011;Holland et al 2012).…”

Section: Role Of Snail Mucus In Chemical Communicationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Strangers in the dark: behavioral and biochemical evidence for trail pheromones in Hawaiian tree snails

Holland

Gousy-Leblanc

Yew

2018

Invertebrate Biology

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The importance of pheromones in insect and mammal social systems is well documented, but few studies have addressed the role of pheromones in land snail behavior. In this investigation, we used a series of behavioral trials and direct analysis in real time mass spectrometry (MS) to test the hypothesis that land snails use mucous trails in orientation and chemical communication. We worked with six endemic Hawaiian land snail species in four genera, three subfamilies, and two families. We tested conspecific trail following in five of these species, and trail following occurred at a statistically significant frequency for each of the species tested (n=181, p‐values ranged <0.0001–0.0494). Percentage of conspecific trials that showed trail following ranged 66.7–94.1%. None of the interspecific tests revealed evidence of trail following among species (n=105, with p‐values of 0.0577–0.5000). Juvenile achatinelline snails did not follow trails of conspecific juveniles (n=30, p=0.5722) or adults (n=30, p=0.4278), nor did adults follow juvenile trails (n=30, p=0.5722). Comparative MS analysis of adult and juvenile trails showed distinct chemical signatures in the two groups. Signals corresponding to medium‐ and long‐chain fatty acids and other unidentified small molecules were present in adult but not in juvenile trails. Considered together, these results support the hypotheses that trail following could serve an important social and reproductive function. This discovery provides evidence for the presence of an ephemeral tree snail pheromone, which could have important implications for the conservation of these increasingly rare and threatened species.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Role Of Snail Mucus In Chemical Communicationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Strangers in the dark: behavioral and biochemical evidence for trail pheromones in Hawaiian tree snails

Holland

Gousy-Leblanc

Yew

2018

Invertebrate Biology

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“…Trail following as a means of mate finding is well documented in marine [ 16 , 18 ], and aquatic snails [ 19 ]. Trail following behaviour has also been documented in terrestrial gastropods, such as the predatory Rosy Wolfsnail, Euglandinea rosea [ 20 ], the White-lipped Globe Snail, Mesodon thyroidus [ 21 ], and the micro snail, Vallonia excentrica [ 22 ]. While there is still limited research available regarding trail following in land snails, a recent study investigated this behaviour in five tree snail species endemic to Hawaii.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The protein and volatile components of trail mucus in the Common Garden Snail, Cornu aspersum

et al. 2021

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The Common or Brown Garden Snail, Cornu aspersum, is an invasive land snail that has successfully colonized a diverse range of global environments. Like other invasive land snails, it is a significant pest of a variety of agricultural crops, including citrus, grapes and canola. Cornu aspersum secretes a mucus trail when mobile that facilitates locomotion. The involvement of the trail in conspecific chemical communication has also been postulated. Our study found that anterior tentacle contact with conspecific mucus elicited a significant increase in heart rate from 46.9 to 51 beats per minute. In order to gain a better understanding of the constituents of the trail mucus and the role it may play in snail communication, the protein and volatile components of mucus trails were investigated. Using two different protein extraction methods, mass spectrometry analysis yielded 175 different proteins, 29 of which had no significant similarity to any entries in the non-redundant protein sequence database. Of the mucus proteins, 22 contain features consistent with secreted proteins, including a perlucin-like protein. The eight most abundant volatiles detected using gas chromatography were recorded (including propanoic acid and limonene) and their potential role as putative pheromones are discussed. In summary, this study has provided an avenue for further research pertaining to the role of trail mucus in snail communication and provides a useful repository for land snail trail mucus components. This may be utilized for further research regarding snail attraction and dispersal, which may be applied in the fields of agriculture, ecology and human health.

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“…Following trails may also reduce mucus use, saving both energy and water (Davies & Blackwell, 2007), although such savings are not always the case (Cook, 1992). Trail following has been noted in numerous species of land snails (e.g., Chelazzi et al, 1988;Holland et al, 2018;Johnson & Pearce, 2013;Pearce, 1990;Shaheen et al, 2005;Vong et al, 2019). Across species, land snails can distinguish between conspecific and non-conspecific trails (Chelazzi et al, 1988;Holland et al, 2018), and mucous trails may be used by predatory snails (Holland et al, 2012;Shaheen et al, 2005;Shearer & Atkinson, 2001), land planarians (Boll & Leal-Zanchet, 2015;Iwai et al, 2010), and firefly larvae (Sato, 2019) to locate prey snails.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Messages in the mucus: Selection of land snail resting sites based on the presence of mucus from conspecifics and other species

Bergey,

Atakpo,

Benni

et al. 2023

Invertebrate Biology

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Mucus is applied to substrates as snails move and when they rest. Beyond the use of mucus in movement and adhesion, the wide array of chemicals in mucus allows for supplemental use in communication. This communication is apparent in trail‐following behavior. This study addresses the potential communication via mucus in selecting resting sites in a laboratory assay. In a series of six experiments, individuals of Cornu aspersum (which often rest on above‐ground surfaces) were placed into lidded plastic containers with three or four sections swabbed with water (the control) or mucus, which included the test snail's own mucus, mucus from conspecifics from the same or a different container holding snails from the same lab colony, or from a different colony, and mucus from three additional snail species. The resting location was recorded on the following day. In two additional experiments, the facultative predator Rumina decollata was tested against conspecific and other snails' mucus. Individuals of C. aspersum preferentially rested in areas with the mucus of familiar conspecifics over mucus of unfamiliar conspecifics, a behavior that may contribute to homing and aggregation behaviors. There was evidence that juveniles may be less selective than adults. The mucus of only one of the three other species was avoided by individuals of C. aspersum. Unlike individuals of C. aspersum, individuals of the predator R. decollata avoided the mucus of conspecifics, which may be associated with less need for mate‐finding in this self‐fertilizing species. Individuals of R. decollata did not select among potential prey species.

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Do Micro Snails Follow Conspecific Mucous Trails? Experiments withVallonia excentrica(Pulmonata: Valloniidae)

Cited by 3 publications

References 13 publications

Strangers in the dark: behavioral and biochemical evidence for trail pheromones in Hawaiian tree snails

Strangers in the dark: behavioral and biochemical evidence for trail pheromones in Hawaiian tree snails

The protein and volatile components of trail mucus in the Common Garden Snail, Cornu aspersum

Messages in the mucus: Selection of land snail resting sites based on the presence of mucus from conspecifics and other species

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