Aspectos da reprodução, crescimento e comportamento agregativo de Allopeas gracilis (Hutton, 1834) (Mollusca, Subulinidae)

Abstract

The aim of this work was to describe the life history of the species Allopeas gracilis, through the assessment of growth and reproduction. We also evaluated the influence of isolation, the reproductive investment, the eggs retention behavior and aggregative behavior of A. gracilis. Therefore, four experiments were conducted. The first experiment aimed to evaluate the growth and reproduction of individuals kept in isolation or in pairs. A. gracilis showed great plasticity in the energy allocation between growth and reproduction, the egg production and growth rates being higher for paired animals. The second experiment aimed to evaluate the reproductive effort of A. gracilis. After the birth of the juveniles, the offspring and parental individuals were weighed to calculate the reproductive investment. At the age of 120 days, the snails kept isolated showed higher reproductive effort than paired snails. At the age of 180 days there was no significant difference between the two groups. The third experiment aimed to characterize the behavior of eggs retention. Sixty newly hatched snails were assigned to individual boxes. The molluscs were observed until the detection of embryos in the oviduct, which confirmed that the snails have attained sexual maturity. In the first phase of the experiment, one group was kept in a favorable moisture condition, while the other was maintained in a desiccation condition. At the second phase of the experiment, after a period of 40 days, the substrate of the boxes in which the snails subjected to desiccation were maintained has been moistened. It was observed that the group kept in unfavorable moisture condition produced fewer eggs than the group kept in a favorable condition, retaining these egg in the oviduct and releasing then when the terrário were moistened again. The fourth experiment aimed to characterize the aggregative behavior of A. gracilis. For this, 150 molluscs were distributed in 15 plastic boxes. In each box four labeled plastic disks were placed in equidistant positions. These disks have served as shelters for the snails. Ten snails were placed in the center of each box. After 24, 48, 72, 96, 120 and 168 hours the number of aggregates formed were observed, as well the position of the aggregates (in which disk) and the number of individuals per aggregate. After 168 hours of experiment the snails were transferred to boxes containing new substrate, three new disks and disk that contained the largest aggregate after 168 hours (conditioned disk). After 24 and 48 hours, the number of individuals in the conditioned disk was obserfved. It was found that A. gracilis exhibits aggregative behavior like other species of subulinids.