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Minimum spanning haplotype network of specimens G. parvus group analysed for Online Resource 2 based on the COI fragment. The clusters are color-coded to display the geographic origin of individuals. The origin of samples is shown by official country codes
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Biological invasions are common among freshwater molluscs, with the North American planorbid gastropod Gyraulus parvus being reported from Europe (Germany) by the 1970s. It has since spread across Central and Western Europe, mostly living in artificial and highly modified habitats. However, considerable conchological and anatomical similarity exist...
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Background
Many molluscan species exhibit a high degree of shell morphological plasticity in their shape (including sculptures), size and colour patterns, which can vary significantly depending on environmental conditions. These shell morphological variations make it challenging to differentiate species, based on morphology alone, often resulting i...
Citations
... Live individuals were either preserved in 96% ethanol or allowed to desiccate at room temperature. Initial nomenclature was based on Vinarski et al. (2017), Lorencová et al. (2021) and , with modifications based on DNA sequence analyses. ...
... The list of all analysed populations is presented in Table 1 and the Supporting information. DNA from each specimen was isolated, subjected to PCR amplification and Sanger sequencing Page 3 of 11 using a genus-specific combination of mtDNA (Cytochrome Oxidase Subunit I -COI, 16S ribosomal RNA, Cytochrome B -CytB) and nDNA (ITS1 and ITS2 of the nuclear ribosomal RNA complex) markers based upon amplification success and previously published data (Nekola et al. 2015, Lorencová et al. 2021. Protocols follow Horsáková et al. (2019). ...
... To visualize population-level similarity we constructed TCS haplotype networks and calculated their location in the ordination space created using principal coordinates analyses (PCoA) of the matrix of genetic p-distances. This analysis was limited to mtDNA markers because of lownDNA differentiation of ITS1+2 within species (Lorencová et al. 2021). These analyses were conducted as described in Horsáková et al. (2022). ...
The biota of North Atlantic islands evokes intriguing questions on its evolution, colonisation routes, and an equilibrium between dispersal limitation and climatic/habitat constraints. While good data on non‐marine snails exist for most of the islands, the data for Greenland were observed mainly between 1850 and 1900. The recorded species have been described as Greenland endemics, but this conclusion has never been fully questioned based on evidence. It can be assumed that these passively dispersing invertebrates are in fact of North American origin, due to the shortest distance to the mainland across the Davis Strait. To answer these questions, we collected the snail fauna at 72 sites of five locations across west Greenland. Our sampling revealed a very species‐poor fauna, consisting of two aquatic and four terrestrial snail species. Based on mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences, the phylogenetic reconstruction and haplotype analysis showed that these taxa are either North American (all aquatic) or European (all terrestrial) in origin. None of them appeared to be endemic to Greenland and they were not even genetically distinct from the mainland populations. At both the macro and habitat scale, the Greenland snail fauna was found to be only a small fraction of the mainland species pool based on climate mapping and analysis of habitat requirements. While it appears to be limited mainly by dispersal, a detailed analysis of bird migration routes and intensity could not explain a puzzling difference in the biogeographical origin of the aquatic and terrestrial components. Terrestrial snails mimic the pattern seen in non‐flying beetles, while the aquatic that of some flying insects. The results are a strong reminder that simple linear distance does not make a barrier, and that the barrier permeability can differ even within a group sharing the same dispersal mode and potential.
... This is not unique and has been seen in other widespread invasive species [e.g. Gyraulus parvus (Say, 1817); Lorencová et al. 2021]. We suggest three potential hypotheses regarding the origin of this invasive subclade: ...
We reconsider the biodiversity and biogeography of Paralaoma servilis—believed to be one of the most globally invasive exotic land snails—through integrative empirical revision. Phylogenies obtained from nDNA (ELAV, ddRAD genomics) and mtDNA (COI) demonstrate that the current classification is in error, with there being at least five distinct species within P. servilis s.l. The P. servilis group as interpreted here thus includes: P. servilis, inferred to be native to south-western Pacific Rim with an adventive distribution minimally spanning North America, Europe, and the Macaronesian islands of the eastern Atlantic Ocean; P. amblygona (Reinhardt, 1877), native to Honshu, Japan; P. borealis (Pilsbry and Y. Hirase, 1905), native to Hokkaido, Japan along the Pacific Rim to the SW North American mountains; P. caputspinulae (Reeve, 1852), native to New Zealand and Lord Howe Island; and P. morti (J.C. Cox, 1864), native to south-eastern Australia. Within P. servilis, invasiveness appears limited to a single clade that may have arisen along the California coast. The work presented here is a reminder that taxonomic concepts that have not been subjected to empirical vetting can generate poor biodiversity perspectives and non-optimal conservation strategies when native species are treated as exotics.
... The native range of this genus embraces all continents, except of South America (Starobogatov, 1970;Meier-Brook, 1983). Some species, for example, G. chinensis (Dunker, 1848) and G. parvus (Say, 1817), have been registered as alien species, occurring far beyond their native ranges (Appleton & Miranda, 2015;Lorencová et al., 2021;Saito et al., 2023). The vast majority of Gyraulus snails are detritivorous or algae-feeding animals; they inhabit small and medium-sized waterbodies, living on soft substrates in euphotic zones enriched with vegetation (Stadnichenko, 1990;. ...
Vinarski, M. V.; Kijashko, P. V.; Andreeva, S. I.; Sitnikova, T. Ya.; Yanina, T. A.: Atlas and catalogue of the living mollusks of the Aral and Caspian Seas. Vita Malacologica 23: 1-124. Leiden.
... The molecular phylogeny approach of planorbids by Albrecht et al. (2007) suggests that the genera Choanomphalus and Gyraulus form separate clades. However, other molecular phylogenetic analyses using mitochondrial and/or nuclear sequences attributed to G. riparius (Lorencová et al. 2021;Saito et al. 2023) do not allow a clear taxonomic assignment within the genus Gyraulus. ...
A population of a ramshorn snail species new to the French malacofauna, Gyraulus riparius (Westerlund, 1865), has been discovered in the fen surrounding Lake Cerin in southern Jura, eastern France. This population is located more than 450 km south of the previously known localities in Germany, and the species’ status as indigenous to France is therefore discussed. A review of palaeontological data show that the species has been recorded in eastern France during cold periods of the Middle and Lower Pleistocene. Furthermore, Lake Cerin is a small lake of glacial origin, located at an altitude of 766 m a.s.l., with little impact from human activities and inhabited by numerous threatened and protected boreo-alpine species. We postulate that this population indicates a wider past distribution, especially in the south, although we cannot exclude the hypothesis of a more recent introduction (natural or anthropic). We propose that G. riparius should be treated as a species native to France, as defined by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, and targeted by a conservation and knowledge programme.
... I would like to thank Klaus Kittel, who drew my attention to the work of Lorencová et al. (2021). ...
Lorencová et al. (2021) found by barcoding of Gyraulus laevis from Europe and G. parvus from Northern America that the tested gene fragments are similar and so the authors believed that both taxa are conspecific. However, they ignored anatomical and morphological differences which have to be considered because genetic data are not a priori higher weighted than morphology. Summarized we can say that Gyraulus parvus and G. laevis are distinct species, because, (1) they differ in the vas deferens, (2) the penultimate whorl in G. parvus tends to be elevated (visible in the adults only), and (3) G. laevis occurs in shallow water of lakes and ponds, while G. parvus prefers (in Europe) artificial water bodies.
... There are two main approaches to this problem. One is based on a study of freshly collected specimens of non-indigenous species from various parts of their aboriginal and non-native ranges, which allows for the application of various molecular genetic and GIS techniques capable of reconstruction of the initial steps of dispersal and identifying the possible sources of invasion (e.g., [9,[22][23][24]). Though this method of study may be extremely effective, in the case of the 'old' invaders, i.e., alien species that started their "conquest of the World" in the 17-19th centuries, an additional approach is applicable. ...
The case of naturalization of the zebra mussel, Dreissena polymorpha (Pallas, 1771), in countries lying beyond its native Ponto–Caspian range is remarkable as one of the first instances when the scientific community as early as the mid-19th century was fully aware of the non-indigenous status of a particular species as well as of the need for the study and monitoring of this process. Based on a study of contemporary sources, I reconstruct the early response of European naturalists
(including those who today would be called “citizen scientist”) to the invasion of Dreissena and describe their attitudes to the problem, including the divergence in opinion about the origin and the means of dispersal of this bivalve species. An analysis of papers published in English, French, German, and Russian between 1774 and 1920 showed that the invasion of D. polymorpha was by no means “silent”; quite the opposite, it provoked an immediate reaction from naturalists. The scientific
agenda for the study of the new invader was proposed in England as early as 1838.
... Based on shell morphology and anatomy, the snails were identified with aid of Glöer (2002), and G. parvus was characterised molecularly (see Pantoja et al. 2021), and we follow the concept for Gyraulus spp. of Lorencová et al. (2021). Snails were separated into plastic cups with a small amount of tap water, and the emergence of cercariae from snails was stimulated by the light and heat of a lamp overnight for 3 consecutive days. ...
Cercariae, the free-living larval stages of trematodes, have adopted an amazing variety of transmission strategies. One of them is prey-mimetism, i.e. cercariae mimicking prey to attract motile hosts to be eaten. In a period between 2002 and 2019, we examined small planorbid snails, Bathyomphalus contortus, Gyraulus parvus and Planorbis planorbis from lakes in Finland and Iceland and from the Curonian Lagoon in Lithuania. Cercariae with conspicuously enlarged tails and unusual swimming behaviour, likely mimicking invertebrate prey, were detected and studied by the use of morphological and molecular (cox1, ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 and 28S rDNA) methods. Cercariae of two species belonging to the genus Apatemon (Strigeidae) were recognised. We consider Apatemon sp. 5 ex P. planorbis from the Curonian Lagoon identical to Cercaria globocaudata U. Szidat, 1940. Cercariae ex G. parvus from Iceland and ex B. contortus from Finland were conspecific, and we named them Apatemon sp. 6; these cercariae could not be associated with any known species. For the first time, we verified that cercariae of the Bulbocauda group belong to the genus Apatemon. We provide a mini-review on records of furcocercariae of the family Strigeidae with enlarged tails reported in freshwaters of the northern hemisphere and reveal that it is not only Apatemon but also Australapatemon and most likely Strigea which belong to the Bulbocauda group, rendering it a purely ecological assemblage. Understanding which invertebrate swimming behaviour these cercariae are mimicking will enhance our knowledge of the processes behind trematode transmission and will help to assess evolutionary pathways of host-finding strategies in trematodes.
... Considering the Ceratophyllum stand in S1, the observed decline in gastropod abundance during the HWL was primarily a result of the decline in the abundance of the dominant pulmonate species G. parvus. According to Lorencova et al. [58] this North American planorbid gastropod was reported from Europe (Germany) in the 1970s, but it is possible that this species was introduced to Europe several centuries earlier and described as a species of G. laevis. Recent molecular research has indicated that G. parvus and G. laevis are indeed members of the same species-level clade, with the former taking nomenclatural precedence [58]. ...
... According to Lorencova et al. [58] this North American planorbid gastropod was reported from Europe (Germany) in the 1970s, but it is possible that this species was introduced to Europe several centuries earlier and described as a species of G. laevis. Recent molecular research has indicated that G. parvus and G. laevis are indeed members of the same species-level clade, with the former taking nomenclatural precedence [58]. Possible routes of dispersal included freshwater ballast in the holds of transcontinental ships [59] or migratory waterfowl [60]. ...
... Possible routes of dispersal included freshwater ballast in the holds of transcontinental ships [59] or migratory waterfowl [60]. Since then, it has spread to Central and Western Europe, where it mostly lives in artificial and highly modified habitats in shallow standing waters of different sizes with rich vegetation, mostly in reservoirs or artificial water bodies in gardens, with few competing species [58,61]. In our study, it can be assumed that the lower abundance of G. parvus is directly affected by the reduction of macrophytes in the HWL. ...
We aimed to determine the effects of water level and habitat heterogeneity on gastropod fauna in the littoral zone, and the differentiation of functional feeding guilds (FFG) of gastropods. Two periods were analyzed: 2012 (low water level, LWL) and 2013 (high water level, HWL) in the littoral zone of two shallow waterbodies (Sutla backwater, NW Croatia). Waterbody S1, covered with Ceratophyllum demersum, was sampled in the macrophyte stands, and the littoral benthal area, while waterbody S2, without macrophytes, was sampled only in the littoral benthal area. It was observed discovered that among the macrophyte stands in S1, gastropods were significantly more abundant during LWL. The same trend was observed in the littoral benthal area of S2. In contrast, gastropod abundance was higher in the littoral benthal area of S1 during HWL. Comparing gastropods in the two waterbodies, the abundance in S1 was ten times higher than in S2. The most abundant species was Gyraulus parvus, which accounted for 51–92% of the gastropods observed among the macrophytes of S1 and 86% in the adjacent benthic zone. Among the FFG groups, grazers (particularly those feeding on gymnamoebae and rotifers) had the largest proportion, followed by shredders feeding on small pieces of macrophytes. In our research, we indicate the important role of microhabitat diversity and submerged macrophytes as a rich food source for gastropods and safe shelter from predators.
... The phylogenetic reconstruction showed that the species were grouped in distinct branches and sequences belonging to the same species clustered together. Recently, phylogenetic analyses based on mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences [77] showed that G. laevis and G. parvus are in fact part of the same species-level clade, the latter having nomenclatural priority. Our data indicated similar results for both amphipods and mysids collected from the lower sector of the Danube River. ...
This survey reports the spatial distribution of gastropods belonging to Caenogastropoda, Architaenioglossa, Littorinimorpha, Cycloneritida and Hygrophila orders, and malacostracans from Amphipoda and Mysida orders in the lower sector of the Danube River, Romania, using DNA barcoding based on the cytochrome C oxidase I (COI) gene sequence. Sampling was performed for eight locations of Danube Delta branches and Bechet area during three consecutive years (2019–2021). Molecular identification of sixteen gastropods and twelve crustacean individuals was confirmed to the species level, providing the first molecular identification of gastropods from the Lower Danube sector. Phylogenetic analysis showed that species of gastropods and crustaceans clustered in monophyletic groups. Among gastropods, Microcolpia daudebartii acicularis, Viviparus viviparus, Bithynia tentaculata, Physa fontinalis, Ampullaceana lagotis and Planorbarius corneus were identified in Chilia and Sulina branches; and the Bechet area was populated by Holandriana holandrii, Theodoxus transversalis and Gyraulus parvus. The amphipods and mysids were present along the three main Danube branches. The calculated density of these species revealed an abundant community of crustacean Chelicorophium robustum on Sulina branch, and Dikerogammarus haemobaphes and D. villosus in extended areas of the Danube Delta. The presence of these invertebrates along Danube River was reported in relation to the sediment type and water depth.
... Molecular markers and mitochondrial DNA sequence data have frequently been used to trace the origin and spread of cryptic invaders in freshwater bodies (Morais and Reichard 2018). Examples of intraspecific invasions are reported in several lakes and rivers in Africa by non-native genotypes of the freshwater gastropod Mel anoides tuberculata from Asia (Van Bocxlaer et al. 2015), in Western and Central Europe by non-native races of the freshwater snail Gyraulus parvus from North America (Lorenková et al. 2021) and the Atlantic by distinct haplotypes of the hydrozoan Gonionemus vertens from the Pacific (Govindarajan and Carman 2016). ...
In the past, the freshwater snail Theodoxus fluviatilis was abundant in the river Rhine, but was considered to be extinct in the Upper and High Rhine in 2004. We found individuals of T. fluviatilis for the first time at sites in the southern part of the Upper Rhine and High Rhine in 2020, where this species went extinct 16 years ago. There are several distinct haplotypes of this species; some of them occurring in geographically separated regions of Europe. We used mitochondrial DNA (cytochrome c oxidase subunit I, COI) to trace the origin of the newly arrived T. fluviatilis. We examined 269 individuals collected at 29 sites and compared their sequence data with known haplotypes of T. fluviatilis and other species of Theodoxus deposited in GenBank. We also analysed a historical sample from 1995 (collected before the species went extinct), which revealed that the haplotype of the native T. fluviatilis in the High Rhine at that time was F28. In the recent samples, however, we found T. fluviatilis with the haplotypes F31 and "euxinus", which are reported in the Ponto-Caspian region. Both haplotypes are cryptic invaders, colonizing the Rhine via the Rhine-Main-Danube canal and adversely affecting the remaining native populations of T. fluviatilis in Western Europe. Our findings are important for this species management by nature conservation authorities: lineages of endangered species should be preserved and supported, while the spreading of invasive, non-native lineages (or species) should be prevented.
