Introduced Helicidae garden snails in Australia: morphological and molecular diagnostics, species distributions and systematics

Blacket, Mark J.; Shea, Michael; Semeraro, Linda; Malipatil, M. B.

doi:10.3853/j.2201-4349.68.2016.1648

Cited by 13 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…This species is one of the most significant pest invertebrates in Australia, with serious ecological, agricultural and social impacts, and a long history of management (Hoffmann et al 2017). Additionally, Bradybaena similaris poses a serious risk to human health, with the ability to serve as an intermediate host for rat lungworm ( Angiostrongylus cantonensis ) (Serniotti et al 2019), whereas Theba pisana is a significant agricultural pest, contaminating harvest and soiling farming equipment (Blacket et al 2016). Both snails and ants are proficient hitchhiker organisms, due to their concealment, ability to live off minimal food and small body‐size (Patoka et al 2020).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Untangling the web: dynamics of Australia's online terrestrial invertebrate trade

et al. 2023

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The trade and keeping of exotic pets has serious implications for both biosecurity and biodiversity conservation. In Australia, the online trade of live invertebrates is an understudied and unregulated issue, with almost non‐existent monitoring. It is uncertain what species are being traded, whether they are being identified correctly, and how they are being sourced (i.e., captive bred or wild harvested, native, or alien). Consequently, potential invasion risks and conservation concerns remain unknown. Here, we explored the online trade of terrestrial invertebrates in Australia across a range of publicly available e‐commerce platforms. We detected 264 species of invertebrate traded, from 71 families and 168 genera over 12 months. The native Extatosoma tiaratum (giant prickly stick insect) was the most traded species, while the most popular families were Phasmatidae (stick insects), Formicidae (ants) and Theraphosidae (tarantulas). Three species are known to be invasive in Australia, while 87% of species traded were native. The conservation status of almost of the species (92%) listed in the invertebrate trade has not been evaluated. Exploring socio‐demographic relationships, we found that human population density was positively correlated with the location of invertebrate sellers. Further, we found the classifieds website had lower prices in contrast to traditional online pet‐stores (median of c. A$7 less). Finally, we did not observe a saturation in the number of species traded in our one‐year study, exemplifying the need for large scale monitoring and risk assessments for Australia's online terrestrial invertebrate trade. We recommend continued surveillance of live invertebrate trade on e‐commerce sites. Substantial changes to legislation and monitoring methods are required at a national level to control the vast number of invertebrates traded across the country, and to minimise the future risks of the invertebrate trade.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Untangling the web: dynamics of Australia's online terrestrial invertebrate trade

et al. 2023

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“…While species from temperate regions are better covered (e.g. Blacket et al, 2016 ; and see Table 4 : Deroceras laeve, Cornu aspersum, Zonitoides arboreus ), this concerns especially tropical species where resources in the source countries may be very limited. A good example is provided by Gittenberger, Reijnen & Groenenberg (2019) in a study on the Maldives and these authors also point out the scarcity of basic molecular information.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identification problems of travelling snail species—new exotic introductions to tropical greenhouses in Gothenburg, Sweden (Gastropoda: Achatinellidae, Strobilopsidae, Helicarionidae)

Richling

Proschwitz

2021

PeerJ

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Three previously unreported species of tropical land snails were found in the greenhouses of the Gothenburg (Göteborg) Botanical Garden and the Public Science Center Universeum in Gothenburg. For Tornatellides cf. boeningi (Schmacker & Boettger, 1891) and Ovachlamys fulgens (Gude, 1900) this is the first observed occurrence in a European greenhouse, while Discostrobilops hubbardi (Brown, 1861) was first reported very recently in the Vienna Botanical garden. Tornatellides and Discostrobilops seem to be spread with orchid culture and trade. Identification of the Tornatellides species proved extremely difficult and a genetic sequence-based approach completely failed due to the unavailability of reference data. This was unexpected considering the importance of these introduced species in horticultural trade. A broader assessment of available sequence data for genetic identification based on COI or 16S for other snail species reported from horticultural facilities showed that such reference data in GenBank are still scarce and only for a limited number of species this approach would support identification.

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“…Many land snail species are also restricted to a single habitat type, particularly those dependent on moist environments such as mesic, or rainforest habitats (Smith, 1979 ), as well as limestone specialists (Haskell & Pan, 2013 ). Conversely, a number of snail species have become global invaders (Blacket et al., 2016 ), and it is suggested that some larger snail species like Hedleyella falconeri have increased dispersal ability that may enable gene flow between populations in spite of habitat fragmentation (Murphy, 2002 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetic diversity of a short‐ranged endemic terrestrial snail

Gretgrix,

Decker,

Green

et al. 2023

Ecology and Evolution

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The factors that influence population structure and connectivity are unknown for most terrestrial invertebrates but are of particular interest both for understanding the impacts of disturbance and for determining accurate levels of biodiversity and local endemism. The main objective of this study was to determine the historical patterns of genetic differentiation and contemporary gene flow in the terrestrial snail, Austrochloritis kosciuszkoensis (Shea & O. L. Griffiths, 2010). Snails were collected in the Mt Buffalo and Alpine National Parks in Victoria, in a bid to understand how populations of this species are connected both within continuous habitat and between adjacent, yet separate environments. Utilising both mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data, the degree of population structure was determined within and between sites. Very high levels of genetic divergence were found between the Mt Buffalo and Alpine snails, with no evidence for genetic exchange detected between the two regions, indicating speciation has possibly occurred between the two regions. Our analyses of the combined mtDNA and nDNA (generated from SNPs) data have revealed patterns of genetic diversity that are consistent with a history of long‐term isolation and limited connectivity. This history may be related to past cycles of changes to the climate over hundreds of thousands of years, which have, in part, caused the fragmentation of Australian forests. Within both regions, extremely limited gene flow between separate populations suggests that these land snails have very limited dispersal capabilities across existing landscape barriers, especially at Mt Buffalo: here, populations only 5 km apart from each other are genetically differentiated. The distinct genetic divergences and clearly reduced dispersal ability detected in this data explain the likely existence of at least two previously unnamed cryptic Austrochloritis species within a 30–50 km radius, and highlight the need for more concentrated efforts to understand population structure and gene flow in terrestrial invertebrates.

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Introduced Helicidae garden snails in Australia: morphological and molecular diagnostics, species distributions and systematics

Cited by 13 publications

References 35 publications

Untangling the web: dynamics of Australia's online terrestrial invertebrate trade

Untangling the web: dynamics of Australia's online terrestrial invertebrate trade

Identification problems of travelling snail species—new exotic introductions to tropical greenhouses in Gothenburg, Sweden (Gastropoda: Achatinellidae, Strobilopsidae, Helicarionidae)

Genetic diversity of a short‐ranged endemic terrestrial snail

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