Vol. 18(3): 123–145 FOLIA

MALACOLOGICAISSN 1506-7629 The Association of Polish Malacologists & Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University Poznañ 2010

doi:10.2478/v10125-010-0013-0

THE 26TH POLISH MALACOLOGICAL SEMINAR

SEMINAR REPORT

I have been writing our Seminar reports for 12 ences, Wroc³aw University (dean Wies³aw Fa³tyno- years now. Always everything, I mean the Seminar and wicz) and the Institute of Biology, Wroc³aw University the writing, goes very well. Now the situation is a bit of Environmental and Life Sciences (director Joanna different – I always praise the Seminar organisers, this M¹kol). The National Park of the Sto³owe Mts spon- Seminar was the work of our team from Wroc³aw, and sored us in a different way: they provided National it is difficult to praise yourself. Diplomatically, I will Park folders, pens, poster boards and a very interest- try to avoid doing so, and praise my co-organisers in- ing lecture (see below). They also organised a stall stead. where we could buy various National Park publica- The Polish Malacological Seminar, our annual tions. Thank you, sponsors! Two people contributed event always attracting many malacologists from Po- to the organisation unofficially: Andrzej Witkowski, land, and – since recently – some foreign guests, this and Lech Witkowski, both born in the Sto³owe Mts; year took place in Kudowa-Zdrój, on April 20th–23rd. they put us in touch with the hotel and the glass shop. It was the 26th Seminar (more than a quarter of a cen- A group of people who deserve thanks includes also tury of annual meetings!). Kudowa is located in the this year’s chair persons (alphabetically again): Anna Sto³owe Mts, a very beautiful part of the Sudetes. Sur- Abraszewska, Jerzy B³oszyk, Andrzej Falniowski, prisingly few malacologists had been there before (or Andrzej Lesicki, Krzysztof Lewandowski, Andrzej so they confessed). We all stayed in a big and nice ho- Samek and El¿bieta ¯bikowska. tel called Villa Sanssouci [French for “without a care” The organising process was difficult, or maybe we or “without worries”], which for the occasion became had managed to forget how difficult such things entirely malacological, with no other guests. We also could be… Many participants kept changing their de- had our meals and held our sessions there. cisions till the very last moment: whether to arrive on The organising institution was the Association of Monday or on Tuesday, have a lecture or a poster, etc. Polish Malacologists; the organising committee in- We also had to send some special letters threatening cluded (alphabetically) Tomasz Ka³uski (Poznañ Insti- people not to include their abstracts in the Abstract tute of Plant Protection; the only non-Wroc³aw organ- Book if they did not submit them before (or not very iser), El¿bieta Kowalska, Tomasz K. Maltz, Beata M. long after) the deadline. Please, please, every future Pokryszko and Ma³gorzata Proæków (all from participant, each time you have difficulties to choose Wroc³aw). TK, being the Association treasurer, dealt among Monday, Tuesday, lecture, poster, double with registration fees and some bills, and found a room, single room, vegetarian or pork diet, remem- cheap printing shop to print the Abstract Book. EK ber the last time YOU organised a meeting and do not was the Seminar secretary and dealt with correspon- do to the Organisers what your participants did to dence. TKM did most of the editing of the Abstracts you! Anyway, the final list of participants (morning of and produced the badges, and MP was responsible for April 19th) included 53 people. Some of them could the excursions; all the Wroc³aw team participated in not come, though – to be fair – with very few excep- putting together the programme. Thank you all! You tins they either let us know in advance, or could not were great! I (BMP) only manipulated everybody else come for reasons entirely beyond their control. We re- into organising the Seminar, and negotiated with the gretted it because most of them were old friends. hotel and the glass shop that produced the snail tan- Those who usually attend, and who let us know in ad- kards. The Seminar was financially sponsored by the vance and could not come for health or work reasons Natural History Museum, Wroc³aw University (direc- were (alphabetically) Stefan W. Alexandrowicz, An- tor Tadeusz Stawarczyk), the Faculty of Biological Sci- drzej Piechocki, Gra¿yna Pyka, Adolf Riedel, Anna 124 Seminar Report

Photos – guess which is which: Where we stayed. Banqueting. Snail on the Seminar tankard. Dripstones in the cave. On top of Mt. Szczeliniec. Krzyœ telling us about the cave. Cave bear. Cribbing from a poster? President & Secretary during prize- giving ceremony. The tallest participant. The smallest participant. Photos A. SULIKOWSKA-DROZD &B.M.POKRYSZKO Seminar Report 125

Stañczykowska, Tomasz Umiñski and Andrzej Wiktor. poster session. This time we had 17 posters on the A snail card with Seminar greetings was sent to each poster list, but actually there were 20, some simply such person. One person who could not come for brought unexpectedly by unexpected participants. very unusual reasons was Robert Cameron whose This year people were very good about their posters: plain refused to fly because of the volcanic cloud gen- even our Warsaw colleague Dominika Mierzwa, who erated by one of the Iceland’s volcanoes. Instead, could not appear in person, managed to send her two some people came unannounced or as a ”last minute posters to us in Kudowa. As a result, not only were the offer”. Some, as usual, arrived late or left early. In all, poster boards full, but also some posters were hang- at the maximum population abundance there were 56 ing on the doors to people’s rooms. people (including one non-malacological husband The committee elected especially for the purpose and one possibly malacological child, too early to of fishing out the best lectures and posters by young tell), with eight foreign guests from (alphabetically authors worked all the time. again) the Czech Republic, Germany and Latvia. On Thursday evening during the banquet we were The conference gadgets the participants were given a real grilled pig with various salads and various given were not as many as during the previous Semi- kinds of booze. Prizes for the best young malacolo- nar (see Folia Malacologica 17 (2009): 73–99). They gists’ presentations were given. Their presentations, included a Seminar folder with the Abstract Book, both lectures and posters, were all good and the prize Programme, snail post card and local map, and a snail committee decided not to distinguish between the tankard (see Figure). Everybody got also another first, second etc. prize. The prizes went to Magda folder, from the National Park of the Sto³owe Mts, Marzec (two lectures on life history of Bulgarica cana), containing national park information, post cards and Roksana Socha & Ola Skawina (one oral presentation a national park pen. by the two of them, one poster by Ola, both about Though officially the Seminar started on the 20th unionids) and to the two youngest participants, Anna of April at noon, a few participants sensibly arrived on Grochowska & Katarzyna Janas. They are students the 19th, afternoon or evening. The opening cere- from Warsaw University of Life Sciences, and their mony, with few people attending (apparently those poster was about new localities of Vertigo angustior who had counted on arriving on time, had miscalcu- (they also disclosed their very recent discoveries – lated), included a few words from the organisers, and new sites of Vertigo moulinsiana). Good girls! The a very interesting lecture on the nature, animated and prizes were tiles, like the ones you put on your kitchen inanimate, of the Sto³owe Mts., by Zbigniew Go³¹b. or bathroom walls, each with a snail painted on it. The The first session (Tuesday, 20th, afternoon) started Assciation is still unable to afford valuable prizes, but just after lunch. All of Wednesday was devoted to ses- after all it is the glory that counts. We also liked some sions, then the Association’s general assembly, and presentations by ”old” malacologists, but the poor everybody was looking forward to the first social oldies never get prizes. The good ones were the two by event: grill party. The grilled things were fine, alas, the team Magdalena Szarowska & Andrzej Falniowski, the weather was both freezing cold and threatening about phylogenies of freshwater snails, two Dreissena with rain, so we had to grab our sausages, beers etc. presentations by Jaros³aw Kobak (one with co- and escape to the dining room. The cold weather, but authors), and two clausiliid presentations by Anna with no rain, continued on Thursday, with two special Sulikowska-Drozd & Tomasz K. Maltz, together or sep- events. On Thursday morning the Seminar excursion arately. went to Jakinia NiedŸwiedzia [Bear Cave] in Kletno, Now to the scientific contents of the Seminar – the to see the dripstones, fossil mammal bones and the in- problems presented and discussed. First, some simple teresting geology of the valley where the cave is situ- statistics. There were 30 oral presentations and 20 ated. Here again our thanks go to our guides: posters; it is a very good proportion, allowing enough Krzysztof Stefaniak (palaeontologist), Pawe³ Socha time for discussions, excursions and banqueting. The (palaeontologist) and Jerzy Bieroñski (geologist), all snail:bivalve ratio was 2.33:1 (2.35:1 in 2009, for more from Wroc³aw University. They offerred us a very spe- ratios from earlier years see Folia Malacologica 2006 cial trip, really science-oriented, not a standard to 2009), the land:water ratio 1.5:1 (0.94:1 in 2009), guided tour around the cave. Chapeau-bas gentle- and thus the snails and bivalves have not changed po- men! sitions very much, but the land is gaining importance. During the general assembly we discussed many The ratio of one-author presentation to presentations problems, among other things the future of the Folia. with two or more authors was 0.85:1, and the ratio of The situation is better than, say, five years ago but we papers/posters presented by girls versus boys was still do not get enough manuscripts. Promises were 1.88:1. made by various members of the Association, it is only The table contains more statistics, with the presen- to be hoped that they will be as god as their word. tations divided into categories corresponding to vari- Ironically, the weather started improving during ous branches of malacology. It is always necessary to the Thursday afternoon session, followed by the assign some presentations to more than one category. 126 Seminar Report

Number of papers/posters No. Discipline 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 1 Ecology 9 20 25 18 14 2 Life histories 977810 3 Conservation 72474 4 Fossil molluscs 56443 5 Applied malacology 42548 6 Parasitology 33642 7 Faunistics 22459 8 Methodology 23020 9 Physiology 21013 10 Structure (histology, cytology, shell) 20051 11 Variation 02311 12 Systematics 22432 13 Molecular genetics 13131 14 Collections 00312 15 Others (general, behaviour, archaeology) 23352 16 History of malacology 00021

As last year, the numbers do not show any obvious there are rumours that that the Toruñ people have trend. Ecology and various aspects of life histories are volunteered (or been volunteered) to do it. still the most popular topics (or maybe the life history The abstract below have, as usual, been translated, lobby is even growing slowly, which would be good). abbreviated, and generally tweaked and messed about The apparent slight growing tendency for applied with behind their authors’ back, by the author of this malacology and faunistics may be deceiving, we shall report. have to wait till the next Seminar to see if the trend continues. Many categories (3, 4, 6, 12, 13 in the ta- BEATA M. POKRYSZKO ble) have remained relatively constant for the last five Museum of Natural History, Wroc³aw University years, whereas collections and history of malacology Sienkiewicza 21, 50-335 Wroc³aw, Poland as topics for papers/posters have appeared only rela- (e-mail: [email protected]) tively recently. We still are not sure who will organise the next Seminar and when and where it will take place, but

ABSTRACTS OF THE 26TH POLISH MALACOLOGICAL SEMINAR, KUDOWA-ZDRÓJ 2010

POPULATION STRUCTURE OF UNIONIDS and in 2008 it was 4,417.6 g/m2. The density of U. IN THE MIDDLE PILICA RIVER AFTER 10 YEARS tumidus decreased twice, to 34 N/m2, at the same mean biomass of 2,200g/m2. Anodonta anatina re- ANNA ABRASZEWSKA mained common but not abundant; its mean density 2 2 Katedra Zoologii Bezkrêgowców i Hydrobiologii, decreased from 4.5 N/m to 0.8 N/m , and the mean 2 2 Uniwersytet £ódzki biomass from 207.1 g/m to 28.1 g/m . The condi- tion of U. crassus improved; in 2008 the species was The 1998 data and results of 2008 field studies transferred from the category of rare and recedent to were used for the analysis. The material included common though unabunadant. Its mean density in- 1,059 bivalves of 1998 (15 sites) and 2,944 of 2008 (21 creased from 0.5 N/m2 to 1.4 N/m2 and the biomass sites). All six unionid species were present in both pe- from 28.8 g/m2 to 49.5 g/m2. The abundance and fre- riods. Unio tumidus and U. pictorum were common and quency of the rare and protected Pseudanodonta abundant. The density of U. pictorum was maintained complanata and A. cygnea decreased. Size structure of at 18 N/m2; its mean biomass increased seven times unionids after 10 years was compared for the site Seminar Report 127

Maluszyn. ANOVA showed statistically significant NEW RECORDS OF EUCONULUS ALDERI changes (p<0.0001) in the mean shell length of the (GRAY, 1840) IN THE ŒWIÊTOKRZYSKIE MTS analysed species. The mean length increased for U. pictorum and U. tumidus (e.g. U. pictorum from JADWIGA ANNA BARGA-WIÊC£AWSKA 72.8±SD7.8 mm to 81.3±SD13.7 mm), and decreased Instytut Biologii, for U. crassus and A. anatina (for U. crassus from Uniwersytet Humanistyczno-Przyrodniczy 65.5±SD 7.8 to 52.8±SD 12.0 mm). Condition of four im. Jana Kochanowskiego, Kielce common species was compared based on the weight regression on shell length. For samples of U. tumidus The distribution of Euconulus alderi (Gray, 1840) is and U. pictorum of 1998 and 2008 the growth curves of poorly known. The species is regarded as Holarctic exponential character were very similar, indicating a and has been recorded from the Czech Republic, good condition. The condition of Unio crassus im- Slovakia, Scandinavia and United Kindom. In Poland proved compared to 1998. The rectilinear course of it is known to occur in the Pomeranian Lakeland, growth curves for Anodonta anatina in both periods in- Mazurian Lakeland, Wielkopolsko-Kujawska Lowland dicates a poor condition of the Pilica population, ex- and Lower Silesia. E. alderi lives in marshes, swamps, pressed as smaller body mass in relation to potential fens and wet meadows. In the Œwiêtokrzyskie Mts it shell length. was first discovered in 2009 on the south-eastern Mesosoic edge, on Jurassic and Triassic limestones. Single specimens were found in the special protection MALACOFAUNA OF CARBONATE OUTCROPS areas of Natura 2000, Ostoja ¯yznów and Dolina OF THE MIECHÓW UPLAND Kamiennej. In Ostoja ¯yznów E. alderi inhabits a wet sedge bed in a depression, where it co-occurs with Ver- tigo angustior. Dolina Kamiennej holds two areas with JADWIGA ANNA BARGA-WIÊC£AWSKA E. alderi: in Wólka Bodzechowska and Kunów. The two Instytut Biologii, fens harbour rare plants, such as Epipactis palustris, Uniwersytet Humanistyczno-Przyrodniczy Glyceria and Carex; the habitat is favourable for V. im. Jana Kochanowskiego, Kielce angustior which is abundant there.

The Miechów Upland is a part of the Ma³opolska Upland macroregion. The area is located between the COMPUTER-BASED ASSESSMENT OF Mesosoic edge of the Œwiêtokrzyskie Mts and the Up- POPULATION ABUNDANCE OF HELIX POMATIA per Carboniferous Upper Silesian Basin. The bedrock is of Mesosoic origin, composed of chalk, chalk marls JERZY B£OSZYK1, ELIZA RYBSKA2, BART£OMIEJ and limestones, and covered by a layer of loess, and in GO£DYN1, AGNIESZKA NAPIERA£A1, KRYSTYNA places by loams and loamy sands. Cretaceous forma- SZYBIAK1, ANNA JANKOWIAK1, ANNA M¥DRA1 tions crop out in many places. The soils and climate 1Zak³ad Zoologii Ogólnej, favour agriculture. The geological structure, soils and 2Wydzia³owa Pracownia Dydaktyki Biologii mild climate have contributed to the development of i Przyrody, Wydzia³ Biologii, UAM, Poznañ a rich geoecosystem. Terrestrial gastropods of the Miechów Upland are little known. Gastropods were The paper presents computer-based ways of esti- sampled in the nature reserves Wa³y, D¹bie and Z³ota mating the abundance of Helix pomatia and assessing Góra. The floristic reserve Wa³y and steppe reserve the proportion of the most favourable habitats in D¹bie are covered by Inuletum ensifoliae and sparse communes, counties and voivodeships. The popula- scrubs. The reserve Z³ota Góra holds thick Peucedano tion size and abundance, as well as size and age struc- Cervariae-Coryletum and Tilio-Carpinetum. The first two ture, were estimated based on field studies, and then nature reserves are special protection areas within actual population parameters were determined using Natura 2000; they are under active protection. In orthophotomaps. The population around a lake near Z³ota Góra, where active protection of xerothermic Mogilno (Kujawsko-Pomorskie voivodeship) was used swards has been abandoned, plant and gastropod suc- as an example. The length of the lake’s shoreline is cession is rapid. Twenty five gastropod species were 9,968 m; width of tree row on the scarp around the recorded in 2008; no dominance structure has devel- lake 30–180 m. The resulting area potentially inhab- oped in the malacoenosis from Z³ota Góra yet. Nu- ited by the Roman snail is 56.5 ha. The snails were merous natural localities of Cecilioides acicula and present in all 50 control sites. The mean population Chondrula tridens were found. The species composi- density based on the number of specimens collected tion, structure, ecological and zoogeographical com- from 10 monitoring plots was 35.6 indiv./are, with 14 position of the malacoenoses justify further studies on adults exceeding 30 mm per are. Assuming an even the malacofauna of the area which a part of species distribution in the area of potential occurrence migration route. (which is unfortunately a rare situation) the total 128 Seminar Report population abundance can be estimated as ca. STRUCTURE OF DIGENETIC TREMATODE 201,140 individuals, commercial-sized specimens con- ASSEMBLAGES IN POPULATIONS OF LYMNAEA stituting about 20% (ca. 40,228 individuals). The total STAGNALIS FROM SELECTED LAKES biomass of commercial-sized adults can be estimated OF THE BRODNICKIE LAKELAND as ca. 1,006 kg. Harvesting 200 kg of Roman snail per year (20% of the population) would not have a delete- ANNA CICHY, EL¯BIETA ¯BIKOWSKA rious effect on the population. We also describe pro- Zak³ad Zoologii Bezkrêgowców, cedures of locating and estimating the proportion of Instytut Biologii Ogólnej i Molekularnej, preferred Roman snail’s habitats using GIS system. Uniwersytet Miko³aja Kopernika, Toruñ Heterogeneous environments offer diverse biotic FOREST SNAIL FAUNAS FROM GEORGIA: and abiotic conditions, determining the distribution DIVERSITY IN A PLEISTOCENE REFUGIUM of organisms and resulting in disjunct populations. Such fragmentation in the case of free-living animals ROBERT A. D. CAMERON1, BEATA M. POKRYSZKO2, is effected only through external environment; in the LEVAN MUMLADZE3 case of parasites it is also determined by an array of in- 1University of Sheffield, United Kingdom termediate and ultimate hosts. For obvious reasons 2Uniwersytet Wroc³awski, Muzeum Przyrodnicze studies on the structure of parasite populations are 3Ilia Chavchavadze University, Tbilisi, Georgia limited to analysis of mono- or multi-species assem- blages within environments of the first or second or- Together with N.E. Turkey, Georgian Trans- der. Our aim was a qualitative analysis of xenocom- causasia was the only part of the western Palaearctic munities of digenetic trematodes in populations of region to hold large areas of moist temperate forests Lymnaea stagnalis, considering seasonal dynamics of throughout the Pleistocene. Its forest snail faunas infection. From May till September 2008/2009 936 have therefore had millions rather than thousands of snails were collected in lakes Bachotek, Stra¿ym and years to develop in situ, in contrast to most of Europe Zbiczno. Infection extensity ranged from 27.0 to or the semi-arid Mediterranean region. We sampled 42.9%, depending on the lake. The highest preva- in 30 forest sites from the Black Sea coast near Batumi lence was noted in August and September 2008 and in to Lagodekhi on the border with Azerbaijan. We May and June 2009 (except lake Zbiczno, where the found 90 species of snail overall. In general, species maximum infection was observed in September richness at individual sites was low, significantly lower again). The dominant tematode species was than in similar forests in C. Europe. Turnover among Diplostomum pseudospathaceum (frequency in 30 sites was higher, but related only weakly to distance. samples – 93.3%). Its proportion in the xeno- There are spectacular local radiations especially communities was 44.1 (Stra¿ym), 50.0 (Zbiczno) and among Clausiliidae and Leiostyla. Species distributions 62.9% (Bachotek). Faunistic similarity (Sørensen) are patchy. There is not much allopatric replacement ranged from 66.6% to 76.9%. Among the 17 as seen in Mediterranean conditions, and up to five trematode species recorded, the following were com- Leiostyla species can be found in the same site. Rare mon to the studied xenocommunities: D. pseudo- species often occur in a few widely separated sites. spathaceum, E. aconiatum, H. conoideum, O. ranae, P. Nearly two-thirds of the species found also occur in elegans, S. inermis and T. szidati. The Shannon- Wiener Turkey, and around a quarter of them are known (H’) species diversity index for the xenocommunities from Europe. The pattern is rather like that seen in was 1.28 (Zbiczno), 1.22 (Bachotek) and 1.67 (Stra- wet subtropical regions. As with some other “refugia” ¿ym). rather few species seem to have spread elsewhere since the last glaciation, and small species (except Leiostyla) have spread more widely than large ones. CONDITION OF POPULATIONS OF THE SNAILS OF THE GENUS PARTULA AND PROBLEMS OF THEIR EX SITU PROTECTION

PAWE£ ÆWIERTNIA1,ANNA JÓZEFOWICZ1, MARIA URBAÑSKA2 1Ogród Zoologiczny w Poznaniu 2Instytut Zoologii Uniwersytetu Przyrodniczego w Poznaniu Partulidae are endemic to the Pacific Islands. The family comprises the genera Eua, Partula and Samoa- na. The most speciose genus Partula includes about Seminar Report 129

100 species. They inhabit the islands of southern Pa- RADIATION AND PHYLOGEOGRAPHY cific, often living at high altitudes in volcanic regions, OF BYTHINELLA FROM CENTRAL EUROPE or in lower-situated forested areas. All require high TO THE BALKANS humidity and feed on decaying vegetation. Because of introduction of Achatina fulica, followed by introduc- ANDRZEJ FALNIOWSKI, MAGDALENA SZAROWSKA tion of a predator which was supposed to reduce its numbers, Euglandina rosea, populations of Partula de- Pracownia Malakologiczna, Instytut Zoologii, creased rapidly. Transformation of natural habitats, Uniwersytet Jagielloñski, Kraków especially deforestation, leading to physico-chemical Pleistocene glaciations have shaped the species changes, is a serious threat. Because of small distribu- composition and genetic structure of the fauna of tion areas, as many as ten members of the genus are Northern and Central Europe. Till recently it was un- red-listed worldwide as ”extinct in the wild”. At pres- derstood that the fauna had survived in a few large ent their populations are preserved only in zoological south European refugia, the largest of them being the gardens and university laboratories, with the aim of Balkan area, while only extremely cold-loving species reinstating them in the wild. The Poznañ Zoo has never left the northern areas during the Ice Ages. The been keeping Partula since 1994. The stock material genetic structure of northern areas, shaped by the re- comes from the culture of the Zoological Society of cent migrations from the southern refugia, is consid- London. Now the Poznañ Zoo keeps Partula mirabilis, ered in opposition to that of south European popula- P. suturalis strigosa and P. hebe bella (70% of the world’s tions, which are supposed to be old and stable. population). The high mortality, especially of juve- Bythinella inhabits springs; its range extends from niles, made it necessary to investigate the reasons for southern Poland to the very south of the Balkans, and this situation. Comparative studies on the snails kept from the Pyrenees to the Caucasus. We compared ra- in different institutions were started; the diets and diation and phylogeography of the genus in Romania, microclimatic conditions, as well as maintenance pro- Greece, Poland and Slovakia. The greatest species di- cedures were compared. The previously underesti- versity was observed in the Balkans but it decreased in mated role of microorganisms associated with the southern Greece. Interspecific dfferences were snails’ alimentary tract was brought to attention. The greater in Romania (with its probably numerous local studies in Poznañ include analysis of faeces, assessing refugia during the last maximum glaciation, and the total abundance of bacteria with special reference speciation-favouring habitat fragmentation), than in to Enterobacteriaceae, Salmonella and Lactobacil- Greece where the whole history of Bythinella was prob- laeceae. An attempt will be made at detecting patho- ably 2–3 million years. During the whole of Pleisto- genic protozoans and a profile of Volatile Fatty Acids cene Greece was probably inhabitable for the snails, will be made. but also there the climatic conditions varied greatly. At the same time the genetic structure of Bythinella populations, from Poland to the south of Greece, is similar everywhere; despite the low gene flow (though GASTROPOD SPECIES COMPOSITION AND cases of remote passive transport have been reported) ATTRACTIVENESS OF GASTROPOD BAITS IN the inter-population differences match the model of ALLOTMENT GARDENS distance isolation, while consecutive populations are characterised by instability, frequent local extinctions EWA DANKOWSKA and recolonisation. Katedra Metod Ochrony Roœlin, Uniwersytet Przyrodniczy w Poznaniu MOLLUSCS OF FLOODPLAINS OF THE WARTA Owners of allotment gardens often have to face RIVER NEAR KRAJKOWO the gastropod problem. During humid and warm summers gastropods reproduce fast and feed on prac- BART£OMIEJ GO£DYN1, ZOFIA KSI¥¯KIEWICZ2, tically all plants, damaging leaves, flowers and fruits MICHA£ CZY¯2 and detracting from their value. Too great numbers 1Zak³ad Zoologii Ogólnej, Wydzia³ Biologii UAM, of gastropods may amount to a plague and destroy Poznañ many plant species, much to despair of the garden 2Instytut Ochrony Przyrody PAN, Kraków owners. One of the ways of decreasing the gastropod numbers is the use of various baits and traps. The aim Aquatic and terrestrial mollusc communities of of the studies was to ascertain the gastropod species patches of high sedges in the Warta River, its oxbows list for private allotment gardens and to compare the and other water bodies in the habitat protection area effectiveness of traditional molluscicides, beer traps of Natura 2000 – Rogaliñska Dolina Warty and cat food. (PLH300012) – were studied from April to Septem- 130 Seminar Report ber 2008, in 30 terrestrial sites (tall sedge patches) sively used. Finding V. angustior indicates a high value and 33 aquatic sites (30 stagnant water bodies and 3 and stability of the sites. sites in the Warta River). Sixty three species were re- corded: 31 species of aquatic snails, 21 terrestrial gas- tropods and 11 bivalves. Two of the species are in- REPETITION AND REPEATABILITY OF MATING cluded in Annex II, EU Habitats Directive (Anisus BEHAVIOUR IN THE SLUG DEROCERAS vorticulus and Vertigo moulinsiana), four are protected PANORMITANUM in Poland and 14 (including protected and ”Natura 2000” species) are red-listed. The terrestrial malaco- JOHN M. C. HUTCHINSON, ISABEL TANGHARI, coenoses are not very rich (1–11 species), compared HEIKE REISE to the aquatic ones (1–18 species). Aquatic habitats of Senckenberg Museum für Naturkunde, Görlitz the area are malacologically valuable on the regional scale, especially because of the occurrence of Anisus In Deroceras panormitanum, we know that one mat- vorticulus and the relatively high number of species. Ex- ing can suffice to fertilise eggs in multiple clutches, cept for two sites, there are no malacologically valuable but that animals will remate again a few days after terrestrial habitats. The main threats to the valuable their first mating, and on average gain fecundity as aquatic and terrestrial malacocoenoses are intensive well as paternity from doing so. Here we investigate mowing of floodplains and decreased level of surface whether animals will continue to remate multiple waters. The studies were financed by Aquanet SA and times. Laboratory-bred virgins were allocated a part- partly within the grant MNiSW no. N N304 3400 33. ner (always an albino with a wildtype, so as to facilitate individual recognition) and given the opportunity to mate with this partner every three days until one part- NEW LOCALITIES OF VERTIGO ANGUSTIOR ner died. We noted down precourtship behaviour and IN THE SOUTHERN PART OF MAZOVIAN the timing of the sarcobelum eversions, and video-re- VOIVODESHIP corded the copulation. Out of 20 pairs, 14 mated suc- cessfully. In these 14 pairs, the mean number of mat- ANNA GROCHOWSKA1, KATARZYNA JANAS1, ings was 9, with a maximum of 17. We have attempted WITOLD STRU¯YÑSKI2 to relate mating behaviour and the probability of remating to the number of previous matings, the in- 1Miêdzywydzia³owe Ko³o Naukowe Biologów SGGW terval since the previous mating, and egg production. w Warszawie One conspicuous difference from our earlier experi- 2Zak³ad Zoologii, Wydzia³ Nauk o Zwierzêtach ments was the much longer durations of the copula- SGGW, Warszawa tions. We have also analysed the repeatability of mating Vertigo angustior, a member of Vertiginidae, is one behaviour, examining both whether the individuals of of the most valuable snail species in Europe. It is in- a pair differ consistently in their roles, and in what re- cluded in Annex II, EU Habitats Directive of the spects pairs differ consistently in their behaviour. programme NATURA 2000 and is red-listed in Poland (EN category). In Poland it is relatively rare, sporadi- cally found in the entire country. V. angustior is ste- EVOLUTION OF LIFE STRATEGIES noecious. Drainage, eutrophication, intensive grazing OF FRESHWATER SNAILS and other kinds of anthropogenic ingerence cause a decrease in the number of its localities in entire Eu- BEATA JAKUBIK rope. The knowledge of its occurrence in Mazovian Katedra Ekologii i Ochrony Œrodowiska, voivodeship is insufficient; when this study started Akademia Podlaska, Siedlce only one site was known, located in the Kampinos For- est, as well as a few historic sites. Field studies were Life histories show an array of physiological, mor- conducted in 2007–2009 in selected areas in the phological and behavioural adaptive features. The southern part of Mazovian voivodeship. The material main life history characters are body size, maximum was collected from August till November. The snails life span, growth rate, age at maturity, size and num- were collected directly from plants; samples of sub- ber of offspring, parental care or its absence, stratum including plants were also taken and snails semelparity versus iteroparity. Organisms which stop were extracted in the laboratory. The snails were most growing having reached ultimate body size, and start often found on the sedges, reed and decaying leaves reproducing, are usually annual. Organisms of inde- of e.g. alder. The study revealed three new localities of terminate growth, with growth rate decreasing with V. angustior near the village of Molendy in the central age, are long-lived and their fecundity is correlated part of Kozienice Forest, in Podeb³ocie between with the body size. This strategy matches seasonal Maciejowice and Trojanów, and near Solec on the changes in the environment. Life cycles of frehswater Vistula River. All the localities were damp and exten- snails show differences in three main points: Seminar Report 131 semelparity versus iteroparity, few large eggs versus THE EFFECT OF TEMPERATURE ON FEEDING many small eggs and hermaphroditism versus sepa- ACTIVITY OF THE INVASIVE SLUG ARION rate sexes. Most freshwater snails of temperate zone LUSITANICUS are annual and semelparous. Most marine and terres- trial species are iteroparous and perennial. Fresh- MONIKA JASKULSKA1, JAN KOZ£OWSKI1, water species must have evolved from first marine and TOMASZ KA£USKI2 then terrestrial ancestors and produced an array of 1Zak³ad Zoologii freshwater adaptations. One is a switch from semel- 2Centrum Badañ Organizmów Kwarantannowych, parity to iteroparity and ovoviviparity. This strategy Inwazyjnych i Genetycznie Zmodyfikowanych, provides protection for the offspring; its success de- Instytut Ochrony Roœlin – Pañstwowy Instytut pends on survival of the adult through the reproduc- Badawczy, Poznañ tive period. Once snails invaded freshwaters, they started producing larger and fewer eggs, though the Arion lusitanicus comes from the Iberian Peninsula size and number of eggs vary widely. The variation and is a pest of cultivated plants. Because of its fast may result from phylogenetic constraints. For spread and being a pest, in Poland it is regarded as in- example non-ovoviviparous prosobranchs produce vasive. Our studies aimed at estimating the effect of small eggs. This might suggest inability to produce air temperature on feeding of A. lusitanicus and on larger eggs and explain adopting ovoviviparity by the size of damage it does to rapeseed plants. The many freshwater prosobranchs. tests were conducted in the laboratory, in different conditions of air temperature (1, 4, 8, 12, 16 and 20°C) and soil humidity (11%, 33% and 50%). Eight MALACOFAUNA OF THE KR¥PIEL RIVER seedlings of Kana rapeseed planted in separate vials were placed in each container half filled with soil. DARIUSZ JANICKI, KINGA DZIERZGOWSKA Two slugs of mean weight 1.89 g, starved for the previ- Katedra Zoologii Bezkrêgowców i Limnologii, ous 48 hours, were placed in each container. During Uniwersytet Szczeciñski subsequent 12 days plant damage was assessed accord- ing to a five-degree scale (0, 25, 50, 75 and 100% dam- The survey included the lower section of the aged plant surface). Five replicates were made for Kr¹piel River, between the village Pêzino and the Ina each combination. The results were statistically ana- River mouth; the Ina is the right-bank tributary of the lysed with variance analysis and Tukey’s procedure at Odra River. The length of the river is ca. 70 km, the significance level a=0.05. The feeding activity as well studied section is ca. 18 km long. The lower section of as the degree of plant damage decreased with air tem- the Kr¹piel has a montane character, with swift cur- perature. Soil humidity had no significant effect. Sig- rent and mostly sandy or sandy-muddy bottom. Be- nificant differences in plant damage were observed al- cause of its natural values the lower section of the ready on the first day of feeding. During the whole ob- Kr¹piel River is protected as an area of special habitat servation period plants were the most damaged at protection within Natura 2000. Five sites were se- 20°C and 16°C. After nine days of feeding the plants lected, and molluscs were sampled in three at such temperatures were 100% eaten. The smallest subsamples for each. A total of 30 mollusc species damage to the plants was observed at 4°C and 1°C. At were recorded: 18 snails and 12 bivalves. Theodoxus the lowest temperature the feeding activity of A. fluviatilis dominated among the snails, constituting lusitanicus was very small, as indicated by the limited 28.4% of all snails. Subdominants were Bithynia tenta- plant damage. On the 12th day the damage at 1°C, culata and Lymnaea peregra, constituting 15.3% and and soil humidity of 50%, 33% and 11% was: 16.25%, 11.7%, respectively. Sphaerium corneum (38.1% of all 11.25% and 10%, respectively. This indicates that bivalves) dominated among the bivalves. Subdomi- even at low temperatures the slugs can still feed on nants were Pisidium amnicum – 20.5% and P. caser- the plants, though their feeding activity and plant tanum – 11.4%. The occurrence of the red-booked damage are much smaller. and legally protected Unio crassus was confirmed. 132 Seminar Report

THE ROLE OF INTEGUMENT IN STICKY THE EFFECT OF SELECTED ACTIVE LOCOMOTION OF TERRESTRIAL GASTROPODS SUBSTANCES ON THE CIRCADIAN ACTIVITY OF ARION LUSITANICUS PIOTR KACZOROWSKI1, TOMASZ TYRAKOWSKI1, MARCIN ZIÓ£KOWSKI2, PIOTR SMUSZKIEWICZ4, TOMASZ KA£USKI1,MONIKA JASKULSKA2, IWONA TROJANOWSKA4, ANDRZEJ MARSZA£EK3, JAN KOZ£OWSKI2 3 1 MA£GORZATA ¯EBROWSKA , MAGDALENA LAMPKA , 1Centrum Badañ Organizmów Kwarantannowych, IGA HO£YÑSKA-IWAN1, EL¯BIETA PISKORSKA1, 1 Inwazyjnych i Genetycznie Zmodyfikowanych, MONIKA STEVESANDT 2Zak³ad Zoologii, Instytut Ochrony Roœlin – 1Katedra i Zak³ad Patobiochemii i Chemii Klinicznej Pañstwowy Instytut Badawczy, Poznañ 2Zak³ad Pielêgniarstwa Psychiatrycznego 3Katedra i Zak³ad Patomorfologii Klinicznej, Arion lusitanicus is a serious pest of cultivated Collegium Medicum UMK w Bydgoszczy plants in the whole of Europe. It comes from the Ibe- 4Katedra Anestezjologii i Intensywnej Terapii, rian Peninsula, and was first recorded from Poland in Uniwersytet Medyczny w Poznaniu the 1990s. Recently it has been observed to expand its range rapidly. Originally observed only in south-east- Sticky locomotion, used by terrestrial gastropods, ern Poland, today it can be found everywhere in the is characterised by tight adherence to the substratum. country. The results presented here are a continua- It is thought that a series of muscle contractions, pass- tion of the studies started in 2008 and partly pre- ing along the sole which adheres to the substratum, sented during the 24th Polish Malacological Seminar. makes it possible to accomplish a paradox: simulta- The studies were conducted in the laboratory, in a cli- neous adhesion and movement. The role of mucus is matic chamber, at 16°C and day length of 12 h. Two to increase the adhesion (glue effect) but also to act slugs were placed in each of the three plastic as a lubricant. We attempted to explain the behaviour semi-transparent containers with a 10 cm soil layer. of epithelial tissue in sticky locomotion of Achatina The container surface was divided in four parts: one achatina. We registered the image of the snail’s sole held a slug shelter, the second – soil sprinkled with during spontaneous movement on a horizontal glass the tested active substance (except control), the third plate with a CCD camera coupled with a computer. – four pieces of Pekingese cabbage soaked in the stud- We analysed the movement parameters (distance, ied substance, the fourth – pure soil. The studied ac- time, velocity), parameters of sole contractions (fre- tive substances were: methaldehyde + N-acetylo- quency, wave length) and changes in the diameter of L-cysteine 1%; copper sulphate 1%; abamectin 0.2% small air bubbles experimentally introduced under and methaldehyde 1%. A camera with infrared radia- the snail’s sole. Based on calculations of dependence tor linked to image recorder was placed in each con- between the contraction wave movement on the tainer. The slug behaviour was recorded during the snail’s sole and the locomotion, the factor determin- next 48 hours. The recordings were examined, and ing progressive movement is the ability of integument the time of particular types of behaviour in each hour to simultaneously adhere and move. The ability is due noted. The results were analysed with Student t-test, to two functional states of the sole epithelium: ca. significance level a=0.05. The time spent by the slugs 70% of the sole adheres tightly to the substratum, and in the shelter, time of movement and of immobility ca. 30% is remote from the substratum and moves as differed significantly between the active substances contraction waves. The epithelial surface of the con- and control; the slugs spent the longest time in the traction wave is greater than the projection of such shelter when methaldehyde and abamectin were surface on the glass plate, and the difference between used; their mobility was the greatest in control condi- the two is the ”folding”, enabling the snail to move tions. The time of feeding also varied considerably; it forward when the contraction wave has reached the was significantly longer in control containers com- anterior margin of the sole. The progressive move- pared to those with copper sulphate and meth- ment of the contraction wave is effected thourgh rais- aldehyde. ing a point on the epithelium, moving it, and lower- ing it onto the substratum in a place which is one ”folding value” away from the original point. Seminar Report 133

FACTORS AFFECTING BEHAVIOUR OF SETTLED bra mussel, a bivalve also originating from the INDIVIDUALS OF THE ZEBRA MUSSEL Ponto-Caspian region, but present in our waters for DREISSENA POLYMORPHA more than 200 years. The zebra mussel is capable of modifying its environment to a large extent, and it is JAROS£AW KOBAK likely to have a positive effect on other invasive spe- Zak³ad Zoologii Bezkrêgowców, cies which are adapted to life in its presence. To test Instytut Biologii Ogólnej i Molekularnej, this hypothesis we studied the association between the Uniwersytet Miko³aja Kopernika, Toruñ substratum formed by live zebra mussel or its shells and two Ponto-Caspian amphipods: Dikerogammarus Passive movement of planktonic larvae and their haemobaphes and Pontogammarus robustoides. For com- differentiated settling on various substrata are the parison, we tested the dependence between the zebra most important factors determining survival and dis- mussel and the European Gammarus fossarum, which tribution of adult zebra mussels in a water body. The encountered the mussel only after its westward expan- results presented here indicate that behaviour of sion. D. haemobaphes preferred live mussels, compared settled individuals can be also an important factor to empty shells which were selected more often than affecting the zebra mussel distribution. Behaviour of stones and smooth substratum. The shape of substra- juvenile and adult mussels was traced from their de- tum and the properties of its surface affected the spe- tachment from the substratum, through locomotion cies’ preferences. The amphipods did not react to the and search for a new attachment place, to settling in mussel activities, such as secreting chemicals to the the new location. It was found that the most impor- water, byssus production or shell movements. Prelimi- tant factors determining the zebra mussel behaviour nary results of the studies on the preferences of D. were: (1) light causing negative phototaxy and limit- haemobaphes to shells of other molluscs (Viviparus ing activity; (2) gravity, causing negative geotaxy of viviparus, Helix pomatia and unionids) suggest that the small mussels in the dark and positive geotaxy of large species may also select habitats with shells of other bi- mussels; (3) presence of conspecifics, stimulating at- valves. The second Ponto-Caspian amphipod, P. tachment, and (4) presence of predators (large robustoides, showed no preference to the zebra mussel. roach), limiting activity and decreasing attachment Unexpectedly, the native G. fossarum also selected strength. The results indicate that the mussel behav- habitats with the zebra mussel, but its preferences iour to a large extent depends on the direct or indi- were limited to empty shells. It reacted only to the rect signals of danger from predators. In the absence shape of the object and the properties of its surface. of such danger the mussels are more mobile and tend to move upward (especially small individuals), which enables them to occupy places on the top of the col- ARACHNIDS (ARTHROPODA: ARACHNIDA) ony. In this way they can avoid oxygen deficits caused AS NATURAL ENEMIES OF GASTROPODS by conspecifics, and metabolic products excreted by them, and compete for food more successfully. When SZYMON KONWERSKI1, ZBIGNIEW ADAMSKI2, in danger (e.g. predator cairomones or light signal- JERZY B£OSZYK1,3, MAGDALENA DYLEWSKA1, ling easier access for predators), the mussels become ANNA M¥DRA1 less active and select shaded places, at bases of sub- 1Zbiory Przyrodnicze merged objects or among conspecifics, as a result be- 2Pracownia Mikroskopii Elektronowej coming less exposed to predator attacks at the ex- i Konfokalnej/Zak³ad Fizjologii i Biologii Rozwoju pense of staying in somewhat worse conditions. Zwierz¹t 3Zak³ad Zoologii Ogólnej, Wydzia³ Biologii UAM, Poznañ PREFERENCES OF PONTO-CASPIAN AND NATIVE AMPHIPODS TO ZEBRA MUSSEL Among the native arachnids, only spiders (Ara- DREISSENA POLYMORPHA neae), harvestmen (Opiliones) and mites (Acari) tend to feed on gastropods, and only few taxa show special JAROS£AW KOBAK1, MA£GORZATA POZNAÑSKA1, adaptations to this mode of feeding. There are no spe- TOMASZ KAKAREKO2 cialised gastropod-eaters among spiders. They mainly 1Zak³ad Zoologii Bezkrêgowców, Instytut Biologii hunt for arthropods, and gastropods constitute a small Ogólnej i Molekularnej proportion of their diet. Only big mygalomorphs, espe- 2Zak³ad Hydrobiologii, Instytut Ekologii i Ochrony cially those building tunnels to catch prey on the soil Œrodowiska, Uniwersytet Miko³aja Kopernika, Toruñ surface (e.g. Atypus muralis), eat a considerable propor- tion of gastropods. Gastropod hunting is rare among A rapid expansion of amphipods in Europe has Araneomorphae but it was observed in several families, been observed since the second half of the 20th c. In e.g. Pisauridae (Dolomedes), Lycosidae (Pirata)orAra- the newly invaded areas the amphipods meet the ze- neidae (Araneus and Argiope). Feeding on small slugs 134 Seminar Report during long-lasting rainy weather was observed in the LIFE-HISTORY IN A POPULATION case of Argyope brunneichi. Gastropods can constitute a OF SPHAERIUM CORNEUM significant proportion of the diet of Meta menardi (Tetragnathidae), which is associated with the specific- TEREZA KOØÍNKOVÁ ity of the habitats (dark caves, tunnels, damp cellars). Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles Most harvestmen eat a wide range of prey, including University in Prague also gastropods. Two families show an advanced gastro- pod-eating specialisation: Trogulidae (in Poland sev- Reproduction biology of the viviparous freshwater eral species of the genus Trogulus) and Ischyropsa- bivalves of the family Sphaeriidae has been attracting lididae (in Poland two species of Ischyropsalis). attention for more than 100 years. The reproduction Trogulidae are shell intruders (entering the shells), mode of the population has been shown to depend while Ischyropsalididae have powerful chelicerae to both on individual breeding strategies and environ- crush the shells or make holes in them (shell break- mental conditions. In the present study, a population ers). Members of both these families hunt also for of Sphaerium corneum from an artificial mill race sub- slugs. Female Trogulus use shells of the snails they have ject to irregular changes of water level was investi- eaten as egg-laying places. Some species of mites of the gated using quantitative monthly sampling, paraffin genus Riccardoella are parasites of the lung cavity of ter- histological sections and chromosome preparations. restrial gastropods. They feed on blood which may Unlike most of the previously studied populations of limit growth and delay reproduction of the host. the genera Sphaerium and Musculium, the one pre- sented in this paper exhibits less synchronised life spans. Despite two main birth periods, many speci- BIVALVES THE IN PALAEONTOLOGICAL mens release their broods also individually during the COLLECTION OF THE NATURAL HISTORY season. An adult usually breeds at least twice in a sea- COLLECTIONS OF THE BIOLOGY DEPARTMENT, son. The life span is more than one year, more often UAM one and a half year. All age and length classes are able to overwinter. Spermatogenesis and oogenesis appar- SZYMON KONWERSKI1, JERZY B£OSZYK1, 2 ently proceed simultaneously from spring to autumn 1Zbiory Przyrodnicze and they occur also in fully developed larvae which 2Zak³ad Zoologii Ogólnej, Wydzia³ Biologii UAM, are still retained inside their parents´ gills. The rela- Poznañ tionship between the observed breeding strategy and the fluctuations of environment is discussed, as well as The malacological section of the Natural History the intraspecific and interspecific variation in life-his- Collections of the Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz tory traits within Sphaeriidae. University, includes a rich material of fossil bivalves. It is represented by structural (shells, internal casts, prints) and trace fossils (mainly rock-borer corridors) DAMAGE TO VARIOUS PLANT SPECIES BY ARION from various geological periods. One of the most inter- LUSITANICUS MABILLE AND ARION RUFUS esting collections is the one from the Middle Miocene (O. F. MÜLLER) (Badenian) of Korytnica near Kielce (several hundred specimens). The specimens from Korytnica include JAN KOZ£OWSKI1, MONIKA JASKULSKA1, perfectly preserved complete shells (Venus multilamella, TOMASZ KA£USKI2 Anadara diluvii, Chama gryphoides, Crassostrea gryphoides) 1Zak³ad Zoologii, Instytut Ochrony Roœlin – and fragments of larger shells (Pelecyora islandicoides), Pañstwowy Instytut Badawczy, Poznañ internal casts, sometimes with preserved shell frag- 2Centrum Badañ Organizmów Kwarantannowych, ments (Amusium cristatum, Cultellus papyraceus, Panopea Inwazyjnych i Genetycznie Zmodyfikowanych menardi, Pelecyora islandicoides), prints of Veneridae and rock-borer corridors (Lithophaga sp.). Numerous shells Arion lusitanicus Mabille, 1868 and Arion rufus bear holes bored by predatory snails. Specimens from (Linnaeus, 1758) inhabit human-transformed areas Piñczów also come from the Miocene; they include and are serious plant pests. A. lusitanicus originates very well preserved shells of Pecten (Gigantopecten) latis- from the Iberian Peninsula, from where it spread to simus nodosiformis with attached bryozoans and many European countries. It appeared in Poland in polychaete tubes. Fossilised bivalves from the collec- early 1990s. Initially it occurred only in the environs tion of Jaros³aw Urbañski (several dozen labelled speci- of Albigowa (Subcarpathian Region); now it can be mens) are also noteworthy. The palaeontological col- found in many localities, mainly in the southern and lections are being systematically examined and cata- central parts of the country. It lives synanthropically logued (entered into a computer data base and photo- and occurs in masses in gardens and cultivated fields graphically documented); original labels, sometimes near human habitations, in shrubland, parks, ceme- of great historic value, are always preserved. teries and ruderal habitats. A. rufus occupies similar Seminar Report 135 habitats. It is a West European species, and in Poland at constant temperature (18°C day and 12°C night) its natural eastern distribution border runs through and humidity (80%). Z. nitidus lays eggs on leaves, in Pomerania, Wielkopolska, Lubuskie Region and the soil, moss or rotting wood – also adults are associ- Lower Silesia. Recently, patches resulting from its in- ated with these substrata. The eggs, calcified, ca. 1 troduction in other parts of the country have been ob- mm in diameter, are laid both by individuals kept in served. Originally it occurred in forests and open hab- pairs/groups and those kept singly since early devel- itats, avoiding managed areas and it did not damage opment stages. Their number per batch is 2-30 (mean cultivated plants. At present it is a member of 8). Most individuals produce one batch per day. The synanthropic fauna, found in parks, cemeteries, incubation period is 13-31 days (mean 18); the hatch- meadows, gardens and margins of cultivated fields ing is asynchronous. The hatchlings have shells of where its populations are very abundant. Both slugs are serious pests of all kinds of cultivated plants. They 1.4-1.9 whorl (mean 1.57). The snails reach maturity attack plants at all development stages, but seedlings in 3 months. Egg cannibalism by juveniles and adults and young plants are the most susceptible to the at- was observed. tacks. The slugs bite holes in all plant organs, cut off their fragments or scrape off the tissues. The damage decreases the assimilation surface of the plants, SEASONAL CHANGES IN AGE STRUCTURE causes growth inhibition, and sometimes a complete OF A POPULATION OF BRADYBAENA FRUTICUM destruction and thus large crop losses. The degree of (O.F. MÜLLER, 1774) damage may vary greatly among various species of cul- tivated plants because of the specific food preferences EL¯BIETA KUZNIK-KOWALSKA1, of the slugs. Plants of the family Brassicaceae are the MA£GORZATA PROÆKÓW2 favourite food of most slugs. However, other veg- 1Zak³ad Systematyki i Ekologii Bezkrêgowców, etables and other crops are also readily eaten. The Instytut Biologii, Uniwersytet Przyrodniczy we aim of our studies was to estimate the rate and size of Wroc³awiu, Miêdzywydzia³owy Instytut Nauk damage to four different plant species by A. lusita- Przyrodniczych nicus and A. rufus. The tests were performed in con- 2Muzeum Przyrodnicze, Uniwersytet Wroc³awski trolled conditions on beetroot, Pekingese cabbage, winter rapeseed and maize, at the stage of 2–3 proper Bradybaena fruticum (O.F. Müller, 1774), an Eastern leaves. Symptoms of slug feeding were observed and European snail, is euryoecious. It lives mainly in the degree of damage to the plants during consecu- damp places with lush herbs, in sparse deciduous for- tive days of feeding was estimated in no-choice tests; the results were subject to statistical analysis. The least ests, shrubland, on river banks, in parks and on wet susceptible to slug damage were maize plants, the meadows. It is usually found crawling on plants or in- most suscetible – Pekingese cabbage plants. active, stuck to the underside of large leaves. Our field observations, conducted from May to November 2009 in the north-western part of Wroc³aw, aimed at assess- SELECTED ASPECTS OF REPRODUCTIVE ing its age structure. Each month individuals caught BIOLOGY OF ZONITOIDES NITIDUS (O. F. during 2 hours “by eye” from a forest plot of about 20 MÜLLER, 1774) (GASTROPODS: PUMONATA: m2 were marked. The number of snails caught on GASTRODONTIDAE) each occasion varied from 40 to 131 (total of 581). Whorls were counted and each snail was marked with Z EL¯BIETA KU NIK-KOWALSKA nail varnish in a way allowing for increment reading Zak³ad Systematyki i Ekologii Bezkrêgowców, on recapture, and released. Eight age classes were dis- Instytut Biologii, Uniwersytet Przyrodniczy we tinguished: 7 immature and 1 adult. The smallest Wroc³awiu, Miêdzywydzia³owy Instytut Nauk snails, representing the two youngest classes, oc- Przyrodniczych curred from July till November, suggesting that in the wild B. fruticum laid eggs throughout the vegetation Zonitoides nitidus (O. F. Müller, 1774) is a Holarctic season. The earliest hatched snails reached four species inhabiting nearly all of Europe. In Poland it is common in the lowlands, less so in the mountains, whorls in the same season; most juveniles wintered usually occurring below 800 m a.s.l. It lives in damp over when their shells had 2.6–3.5 whorls. The mean meadows, on lake shores and river banks, and in alder time required to form one whorl in juveniles (first carrs. Its life cycle was studied in the laboratory. The growth stage) was 20–30 days (1–1.5 whorls per material for the laboratory culture originated from month). Adult size was reached in the next season. Muszkowice near Henryków (SW. Poland). The snails Snails of the oldest age class were present during the were kept in Petri dishes of a size depending on the whole season, but were the most numerous in July number of inhabitants, placed in a climatic chamber and August. 136 Seminar Report

UNIONIDS OF THE KRUTYNIA RIVER had a positive effect, namely that snail production be- (MAZURIAN LAKELAND) came the focus of attention for at least a moment. Not all realise that large farms of Helix aspersa already KRZYSZTOF LEWANDOWSKI, BEATA JAKUBIK function or are being established in Poland, with an- Katedra Ekologii i Ochrony Œrodowiska, Akademia nual production size of 100–170 tons. The snail pro- Podlaska, Siedlce duction technology is obscured by the information noise in electronic media. The number of seriously in- Krutynia is among the main rivers of the Mazurian terested farmers, with the associated range of fodder Lakeland; it flows through about a dozen lakes and af- producers and manufacturers of farming equipment, ter ca. 100 km falls into Lake Be³dany. It is an impor- is gradually increasing. The following problems con- tant canoeing trail running through protected areas: stitute obstacles: absence of state interest in alterna- three nature reserves and the Mazurian Landscape tive production, conservative attitude of opinion- Park. The bivalves were surveyed in 2008–2009. forming agricultural circles, which makes financing Samples were taken three times from 10 constant of studies difficult, lack of branch consolidation, plots distributed roughly evenly from the source sec- small domestic market. The Animal Husbandry Insti- tion to the mouth. The bivalves were identified in the tute in Cracow is among the few scientific institutions field; their age and size were assessed and they were which appreciate the prospects of heliculture. There released into the river. A total of 764 unionids were is still no unequivocal and updated knowledge of the collected, representing six species. Unio tumidus, con- value and market assessment of the native, farmed stituting 65.6% of all bivalves was the most abundant populations of Helix aspersa in Poland, and no species. Anodonta anatina (16.5%) and U. pictorum farmer-oriented veterinary, climatological or soil-sci- (10.3%) were less abundant. The least frequent were ence studies. The only developed aspects of knowl- A. cygnea (5.2%), U. crassus (1.6%) and Pseudanodonta edge are snail keeping technology and feed produc- complanata (0.8%). The maximum unionid density in tion. An interdisciplinary help from scientists could the Krutynia was 80–120 indiv./m2, the maximum bio- contribute to the development of this little appreci- mass locally exceeded 2.5 kg/m2. Literature data ated branch of animal production. from 50 and 100 years ago indicate the presence of the same unionid species in the Krutynia, testifying to stable environmental conditions in the river. HABITAT SELECTION BY VERTIGO MOULINSIANA IN THE MARSHES OF THE NIDA RIVER VALLEY: VEGETATION, HUMIDITY AND TEMPERATURE CURRENT PROBLEMS OF SNAIL FARMING IN POLAND ANNA LIPIÑSKA Instytut Ochrony Przyrody PAN, Kraków MACIEJ LIGASZEWSKI Instytut Zootechniki – Pañstwowy Instytut Badawczy, Studies on population dynamics and habitat prefer- Balice ences of Vertigo moulinsiana have been conducted on the Nida River since 2008 (project MNiSW no. N N304 The Polish heliculture has been developing for 20 2367 33 “Occurrence and habitat protection of the years, but it still remains a new branch of alternative snails of the genus Vertigo included in the Habitats Di- production. The alternative production (EU nomen- rective”). Temporal and spatial changes in the popu- clature) pertains to animal breeds and species which lation abundance are monitored; data on the number in some countries and regions are real alternatives to of individuals and kind of preferred vegetation are col- the previous models of agricultural economy domi- lected, with exact mapping and registering of tempera- nated by standard breeds, crosses and lineages of pigs, ture and humidity. Preliminary results indicate that the cattle and poultry. Products derived from rabbits, abundance peak in the discussed area occurs in the water fowl, carp, rainbow trout, sheep or snails repre- summer: June, July, August, with a rapid decline in Sep- sent a negligible proportion in the country’s animal tember. The largest density was observed in damp production. Since industrial production of the stan- places with Glyceria sp. and Carex sp. The snails seem to dard animals, constituting the food basis of European spend winter on the plants (all specimens found in the nations, has long exceeded the upper limit of de- litter were dead), mainly on Glyceria sp. and Carex sp., mand, many European countries are beginning to and the survival rate through winter mainly results support attempts at increasing variety and improving from the number of wintering indviduals. The distribu- culinary quality of animal products. The most recent tion of the species in the Nida River Valley (area from example is the EU help programme for supporting Motkowice to Nowy Korczyn; 40 km section) was also production of poikilothermic animals, such as fishes studied based on a network of trancests. In spite of and snails. A part of the public opinion in Poland, abundance of potentially adequate habitats, only one journalists included, reacted in a satirical way which new locality was found. Seminar Report 137

ANNUAL ACTIVITY OF MATURE GONAD IN storage. Snails initially kept in pairs, after the death of TWO MEMBERS OF THE GENUS VESTIA P. HESSE their partner retained their ability to lay viable eggs (GASTROPODA: PULMONATA: CLAUSILIIDAE) for up to 829 days. B. cana is capable of producing eggs throughout the year, but some seasonality can be TOMASZ K. MALTZ1, ANNA SULIKOWSKA-DROZD2 observed. Individuals which in the laboratory were ac- 1Muzeum Przyrodnicze Uniwersytetu Wroc³awskiego, tive throughout the year, showed peaks of egg-laying 2Katedra Zoologii Bezkrêgowców i Hydrobiologii in February and June. Hibernated snails showed one Uniwersytetu £ódzkiego very distinct peak in April i.e. the first months after hi- bernation. No differences were observed in the num- Vestia gulo and V. turgida are iteroparous and simul- ber of eggs produced per year by hibernated and taneously hermaphroditic. In the wild they are active non-hibernated individuals. The hatching success is from April till October, reproducing in the spring and 86.4%. Egg cannibalism within batches is the reason summer (egg retention from May till August); hiber- for mortality of 35.7% of unhatched eggs (4.9% of all nation lasts from November to March. Studies on the eggs). The remaining mortality is attributed to ran- histological changes in the gonad and gamete pro- dom events (e.g. desiccation), but could result from duction in annual cycle were conducted from Sep- the maintenance procedures (all eggs were removed tember 2006 to October 2008. Sexually mature snails from parents’ containers and transferred to separate of both species were used (maturity criteria: com- containers). Other factors, such us unfertilised eggs pleted shell with developed closing apparatus, devel- or embryos failing to develop, can not be excluded. oped reproductive system, gonad overgrowing hepatopancreas, black-pigmented and divided into lobes and lobules). Each month gonads were fixed in GROWTH RATE OF BULGARICA CANA Bouin solution, paraffin-embedded and cut into serial IN THE LABORATORY AND IN THE WILD sections 7 mm thick, stained with haematoxylin and eosin and examined in light microscope. Gonads of MAGDALENA MARZEC both species are the most active in the spring and Muzeum Przyrodnicze, Uniwersytet Wroc³awski summer (oocyte maturation – intensive vitellogenesis: March-May, numerous mature oocytes: May-August, The growth of Bulgarica cana in the laboratory was spermatozoa production and maturation: March-May, assessed based on 358 individuals hatched in the labo- numerous packets of mature spermatozoa: May-Octo- ratory. Among them 212 (59.2%) reached ultimate ber), which coincides with the reproductive period. size and typical shell appearance, 31 (8.7%) showed The onset of reproduction is determined by the ade- various shell deformations, and 115 (32.1%) died as quate pool of vitellogenic oocytes which start to form juveniles. The time required to reach ultimate shell in the summer of the previous season and mature in size varied from 4 to 14 months. Juvenile shells upon the spring of the next season. Mature spermatozoa hatching have the mean number of 2.63 whorls are present in the gonad from spring till autumn, in- (1.5–3.2), those of adults – 12.42 whorls (11.2–14.0). dicating the ability to copulate throughout the active The mean time required to reach the ultmate size is period. During hibernation the gonads contain no 6.8 months, and 75% of individuals terminate growth spermatids, mature spermatozoa or advanced when 8 months old at the latest. There is a significant vitellogenic oocytes. dependence between the growth time and the ulti- mate size (expressed as the number of whorls). The time of growth of ultimately larger snails is longer (rs FECUNDITY OF BULGARICA CANA = 0.30 p<0.0001). The correlation is fairly weak and does not explain all the individual variation in the MAGDALENA MARZEC growth duration. Longer growth period is mainly as- Muzeum Przyrodnicze, Uniwersytet Wroc³awski sociated with smaller growth rate. The mean growth rate ranges from 2.28 whorls/month for snails com- Bulgarica cana was kept in the laboratory from Oc- pleting growth within 4 months to 0.65 whorl/month tober 2004 till January 2010. Its fecundity was esti- for those completing growth in 13 or 14 months. Pe- mated in the laboratory, based on observations of 34 riods of growth arrest occur in 32.9% of individuals. couples of snails. An individual lays the mean number These periods are not responsible for the individual of 23.5 eggs per year. The numbers of eggs produced differences in growth periods. The growth rate varies by the individual in consecutive years do not differ. in the course of individual growth. The maximum The eggs are laid in batches (98% eggs; 2% are laid growth rate ranges from 1.4 do 4.0 whorls/month, singly); the mean number of eggs per batch is 8.4 the minimum rate from 0.1 do 2.2 whorls/month. (2–29), large batches being rare; 75% of batches con- The growth assessment in the wild was based on 100 tain up to 10 eggs. No uniparental reproduction was individually marked juveniles (6.8–11.3 whorls at first observed. The snails are capable of long-term sperm marking), with 47 recaptures; the time between con- 138 Seminar Report secutive captures ranged from one week to 22 MALACOLOGISTS IN THE 190-YEAR HISTORY months. The mean growth rate in the field in the sum- OF THE MUSEUM AND INSTITUTE mer (June-September) was 0.67 whorl/month (mini- OF ZOOLOGY, POLISH ACADEMY OF SCIENCES mum 0.2 and maximum 1.8 whorl/month). In the winter, between October and May (8 months) the DOMINIKA MIERZWA, snails did not grow (n=12 snails, i.e. all snails recap- MAGDALENA KOWALEWSKA-GROSZKOWSKA tured in that period). Muzeum i Instytut Zoologii PAN, Warszawa The history of the Museum and Institute of Zool- CEPAEA VINDOBONENSIS IN THE NIDA RIVER ogy [MIZ], Polish Academy of Sciences dates back to VALLEY the beginning of the 19th c. when the Zoological Cab- inet was established at Warsaw University. During its DOMINIKA MIERZWA 190-year existence many outstanding malacologists Muzeum i Instytut Zoologii PAN, Warszawa were associated with the MIZ, contributing to the es- tablishment and development of the institution. In 2002 Cepaea vindobonensis was found in the na- Some were Museum directors, others donated their ture reserve Skorocice by Anna Sulikowska-Drozd; the valuable collections and libraries to the MIZ. In record was then confirmed by Dominika Mierzwa and 1921–1928 Antoni Wagner was the Museum’s direc- Andrzej Szymkowiak in 2009. The nature reserve Sko- tor. He donated to the Museum about eight thousand rocice (commune Wiœlica) is located in the macro- mollusc species from all over the world, and his zoo- region of the Nida Basin in the Nida Valley. It was es- logical library. He published numerous taxonomic tablished as a steppe reserve in 1960. The morphol- and zoogeographical papers. W³adys³aw Poliñski be- ogy of the area is karst-related; the reserve holds ero- came curator of the Invertebrate Department in the sion-transformed horizontal beds of Miocene gyp- State Zoological Museum (as the institution was then sum. Besides various petrographic varieties of gyp- called); in 1928–1929 he was head of the whole insti- sum, numerous sink holes, rock outcrops and bridges tution. His malacological studies were mainly physio- can be observed. The landscape value is enhanced by logical, faunistic and zoogeographical in scope. He the Skorotnicki Stream running along the bottom of was succeeded by Wac³aw Roszkowski (director in the valley. The stream is the reason for the live karst 1929–1935). Roszkowski was interested in terrestrial relief, with currently forming swallets and vaucluses. snails to which he devoted numerous publications. In Four plant communities exist in the reserve: Festuco- 1929 Leon Retowski included the malacological col- Brometea (xerothermic swards), Molinio-Arrhenatheretea lection of his father, Otto von Retowski, in the Mu- (meadows), Phragmitetea (reed beds), Rudereto- seum’s collection. After World War II, in 1947–1953 Secalinetea (nitrophilous vegetation). Many rare plants the position of Museum’s head was entrusted to the occur there: Adonis vernalis L., Stipa capillata L., Stipa malacologist Stanis³aw Feliksiak, who already in 1929 joannis Èelak. and Anemone silvestris L. D. Mierzwa and was associated with the Museum. In 1929–1945 he A. Szymkowiak observed also C. vindobonensis in 2009 worked as assistant in the Molluscan Section, and in Gacki (commune Piñczów). Gacki are located in then was head of the Invertebrate Department. Adolf the macroregion of the Nida Basin, in the Solec Ba- Riedel became employed as assistant at the Museum sin. The landscape of the planned geological reserve in 1949; for the whole of his professional life he was results from gypsum exploitation in the 20th c. After associated with the MIZ. Adolf Riedel was dealing the exploitation ceased, the pit was filled with water with terrestrial snails, mainly of the family Zonitidae. and is now protected. Like in Skorocice, the species He was author of numerous valuable anatomical-sys- abundance here is low. Other localities in the Nida tematic and zoogeographical papers. Basin, reported by earlier authors, include: Piñczów, Skowronno, £agiewniki – Piñczów Hump; Busko-Zdrój – Solec Basin mesoregion; Maszków, ANTIOXIDATION DEFENCE IN TWO SNAIL Rze¿unia – Miechów Upland mesoregion. SPECIES: HELIX ASPERSA AND HELIX POMATIA

ANNA NOWAKOWSKA, JUSTYNA ROGALSKA, MICHA£ CAPUTA Zak³ad Fizjologii Zwierz¹t, Instytut Biologii Ogólnej i Molekularnej, Uniwersytet Miko³aja Kopernika, Toruñ Data on mollusc antioxidation defence do not al- low for an unambiguous explanation of the antioxi- dation mechanism in terrestrial snails. Our data on Seminar Report 139 the Roman snail contribute much new information quired a largely natural character. It has a natural but depart considerably from such data on H. aspersa. thermal regime, but because of its small depth and We attempted to compare the two species which made dark muddy bottom it heats in the summer. The clam it possible to generalise about the biology of terres- was most probably introduced with fish stocking mate- trial snails. We studied the mechanism of antioxi- rial. Locally, the population reaches high densities. dation defense in the two species in laboratory condi- Shells of many individuals bear ca. 10 annual incre- tions during aestivation, just after the aestivation and ment lines, and the mean shell length is 172 mm 24 hours after resuming activity, and in two control (n=14). The sample measured by us was collected groups: snails active in the field and snails active in non-randomly, to acquire large specimens. However, the laboratory. We could thus answer the question abundance of such specimens indicates that it is a whether the two species showed different defense re- stable population inhabiting the water body for many actions and whether the differences could possibly re- years. We plan further studies on the population and sult from the experimental conditions. Both species a search for other populations in similar water bodies showed the greatest catalase activity when active in of Central Pomerania. the field. The activity of glutathione reductase was higher in the Roman snail, but the transferase activity was higher in H. aspersa. The catalase and transferase BIOINFORMATIC IDENTIFICATION activity was the highest in the hepatopancreas and the OF AQUAPORES IN MOLLUSCS lowest in the foot. The concentration of dimalone al- dehyde shows that in both species aestivation and re- JOANNA R. PIEÑKOWSKA, EWA TOMKOWIAK, sumption of activity do not cause lipid damage. It can ANDRZEJ LESICKI be supposed that the system of antioxidation defense Zak³ad Biologii Komórki, Wydzia³ Biologii UAM, prevents free-radical damage and the level of enzyme Poznañ activity shows interspecific differences. The two spe- cies are characterised by an endogenous regulation of Water transport across the cell membrane pro- the antioxidation mechanism, but environmental ceeds according to two modes: 1 – free diffusion; 2 – changes can modulate the rhythm. Learning mollusc fast transport through aquapores. The results of the physiology may help understand the effect of environ- last decade studies show that aquapores occur in all ment and climatic changes on the survival of native kingdoms. They have been very well characterised in species. The studies were partly sponsored by the mammals, mainly man and mouse. However, till now MNiSW, grant no. N N304 393238. We thank Prof. there are no literature data on their occurrence in Maciej Ligaszewski, Institute of Animal Husbandry, molluscs. All hitherto identified aquapores share a for the individuals of Helix aspersa. common structure. In the cell membrane they func- tion in the form of tetrameres. Their subunits, called aquaporines, are integral proteins of the membrane SINANODONTA WOODIANA IN A NATURAL built of six transmembrane helices and five loops. WATER BODY IN THE BUFFER ZONE The amine and carboxylic ends of the polypeptide are OF THE S£OWIÑSKI NATIONAL PARK located on the cytoplasmic side of the membrane. Each aquaporine contains two – pore-lining – conser- MA£GORZATA O¯GO, ZDZIS£AW BOGUCKI, vative motives, each with aminoacid sequence EWELINA JANULIS Asn-Pro-Ala (or Asn-Pro-Val). Two groups are distin- Instytut Biologii i Ochrony Œrodowiska, Akademia guished among the proteins building aquapores, de- Pomorska, S³upsk pending on the specificity with respect to transported substances: 1 – aquaporines sensu stricto, which trans- Sinanodonta woodiana is an alien member of the port water molecules and 2 – aquaglyceroporines, Polish fauna. It comes from Eastern Asia, and was in- which additionally transport glycerol and probably troduced in Europe in the 1960s with fish species im- other uncharged molecules, e.g. urea. To identify ported from China. Its development requires high aquapores in molluscs, we conducted a bioinformatic temperatures and in Poland it occurs mainly in analysis of available databases with nucleotide and heated waters, though it has also been observed in aminoacid sequences of various mollusc species. The water bodies of natural thermal regime. In this pre- search revealed only three sequences corresponding sentation we describe a locality of the giant clam in to aquaporines, present in three gastropod species: Czarny M³yn, in the buffer zone of the S³owiñski Aplysia californica (J. G. Cooper, 1863) (Aplysiidae, Natonal Park, found by us in October 2009. It is one Opisthobranchia), Lottia gigantea (Sowerby, 1864) of the northernmost localities of the species. The wa- (Lottiidae, Patellogastropoda) and Lymnaea stagnalis ter body where it occurs is a remnant of a large fish (Linnaeus, 1758) (Lymnaeidae, Pulmonata). The se- pond complex. It resulted from the damming of a quences from L. gigantea and L. stagnalis were the left-bank tributary to the £upawa River, and later ac- closest to the human and murine AQP4, while the se- 140 Seminar Report quence from A. californica – to AQP8. Though the triarius, Mastus venerabilis, Alopia livida, Cochlodina ce- aminoacid sequences indicate that the bioinforma- rata, Hygromia transsylvanica and Drobacia banatica are tically identified proteins are aquaporines, it can be especially noteworthy. Conclusions about the struc- fully confirmed only with laboratory studies. Such ture and composition of the studied malacocoenoses studies will also make it possible to understand how are not facilitated by the still poor knowledge of the the aquapores function and what is their role in the Romanian malacofauna, and the presented results mollusc cell membrane. are preliminary.

FOREST MALACOCOENOSES ASSESSMENT OF POPULATION ABUNDANCE OF THE ROMANIAN CARPATHIANS AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE ROMAN SNAIL (HELIX POMATIA) IN KUJAWSKO-POMORSKIE BEATA M. POKRYSZKO1, ROBERT A. D. CAMERON2 VOIVODESHIP 1 Muzeum Przyrodnicze Uniwersytetu Wroc³awskiego, 1 2 2 ELIZA RYBSKA , JERZY B£OSZYK , Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, Univer- 2 2 sity of Sheffield, UK BART£OMIEJ GO£DYN , AGNIESZKA NAPIERA£A , KAZIMIERZ STÊPCZAK2, KRYSTYNA SZYBIAK2 In 2009 (14 July–7 August) we sampled forest 1Wydzia³owa Pracownia Dydaktyki Biologii malacoenoses in six chains of the Romanian Car- i Przyrody pathians: Lotru, Buçegi, Retezat, Apuseni, Ceahlãu 2Zak³ad Zoologii Ogólnej, Wydzia³ Biologii UAM, and Maramureº Mts, in 43 sites grouped in 10 locali- Poznañ ties of 2–6 sites each. The sites, each of 400 m2, were spread between 45.30 and 47.89°N and 22.72 and The Roman snail (Helix pomatia), the largest native 26.00°E, at 341–1,264 m a.s.l.; they differed in the ex- terrestrial snail, is the only commercially exploited posure, inclination, substratum, humidity and plant mollusc in Poland. Its commercial exploitation star- species composition. We used methods commonly ac- ted after World War II. In 1961–1974 the annual ex- cepted in such studies (collecting by eye during two port to such countries as France and Germany was person-hours, sieving 20 l of litter). The total number about 300 tons. The intensive exploitation caused a of snail species found was 82, the number per site decrease in its abundance in some regions already in ranging from 19 to 40 (mean 26.93). Considering the 1960–1963. The still valid regulations pertaining to size of the area, the total number of species and their the shell size and collecting period were introduced number per site did not depart from such numbers in in 1963. However, a reliable control of exploitation of the Polish or Ukrainian Carpathians. The Nei similar- the Roman snail resources is still lacking. Likewise, ity between the sites was not correlated with geo- there are no methods of estimating and prognosing graphical distance and varied widely, from 0.22 to the size of harvest which would not be detrimental to 0.99, being more varied than in the remaining parts the population. The Roman snail resources were as- of the Carpathians or in the Northern European Low- sessed in Kujawsko-Pomorskie voivodeship from May land. For example, the similarity between the sites in 1st till July 7th 2009, on commision of the Regional two neighbouring valleys in the Lotru Mts: Capraret Inspectorate of Environment Protection in Byd- and Lotrioara, a few kilometres away, ranged from goszcz; all the component communes were included 0.60 to 0.74, the range being similar to that calculated in the survey. A total of 6,013 individuals from abun- for the whole of the Bieszczady Mts. The similarity be- dant populations were collected, and the presence of tween the localities showed a similar pattern. 1,200 snails occurring singly was recorded. Five cate- Whittaker’s index for the studied localities was Iw gories of communes were distinguished: 1) com- 3.08, Imax 2.08, indicating a greater between-site diver- munes with commercial Roman snail resources, 2) sity than in the Polish and Ukrainian Carpathians or communes with rich resources, 3) communes with the Northern European Lowland, for which Iw was medium-sized resources, 4) communes with small re- only 1.20–1.88 and Imax 1.13–1.44 (for comparison: in sources 5) communes where no snails were found. In- the Tertiary relic forests of the Caucasus Iw 5.66, Imax dividuals from each studied population were mea- 4.29). Small area endemics are responsible for only a sured and weighted, and the number of empty shells small part of this differentiation; only 13 out of the 82 was noted. The age and size structure of the popula- species are limited in their distribution to 1–2 moun- tions were ascertained, with indication of commer- tain ranges. We associate the differences with the gla- cially significant populations. The density of commer- cial history of the discussed areas. The studied mala- cial-sized individuals per are was also determined. cocoenoses include 47 widely distributed species (Eu- The single large-area survey does not provide a basis ropean to Holarctic) and 35 Carpathian species s. lat. for unequivocal conclusions, but may be of use when From the point of view of a Central and Western Euro- planning the number of purchase centres and collec- pean malacologist, Acicula perpusilla, Spelaeodiscus tion limits for individual communes. Seminar Report 141

TRIDACNA – THE LARGEST BIVALVES usually fish; upon leaving the host they bury them- selves in the bottom sediments. Little is known of the ANDRZEJ SAMEK period spent in the sediments and the reasons for Politechnika Krakowska im. Tadeusza Koœciuszki, burying. The role of juvenile shell sculpture– mor- Kraków phologically different from that of adult shell – is un- known. The difference in sculpture has persisted Tridacna, the huge marine bivalves, belong to the since the late Triassic. Observations on completely family Tridacnidae, distinguished by J. G. Bruguière in buried bivalves require a translucent medium and lay- 1797. The family includes two genera: Tridacna and ers of sediment with different permeability to X-rays Hippopus. The largest species is Tridacna gigas, reaching (penetration of the sediment by the animal will leave up to 1,500 mm length and a mass of 250 kg. Large spe- a trace – mixed layers – visible on X-ray photos). The cies include also T. maxima and T. squamosa, with the main aim was to ascertain if there were any behav- shell length of 350–400 mm. Tridacna inhabit extensive ioural differences between juveniles of strongly sculp- areas of the Indopacific, Red Sea and eastern coast of tured Unio tumidus, less sculptured U. pictorum and Africa to Polynesia, but the distribution differs among delicately sculptured Anodonta anatina (velocity and species. The 2008 discovery of a new large species T. depth of burying, degree of locomotory activity). In costata in the Red Sea was a real sensation. T. costata re- the experiments I used materials which give a large sembles T. maxima; it is very rare but the situation was contrast in X-ray photos: quartz sand and aragonite different in the remote past. An unusual character of sand. U. tumidus and A. anatina (a total of 3 individ- Tridacna is their symbiosis with zooxanthellae, unicellu- uals of shell length 8–13 mm) were placed in lar dinoflagellate algae which the bivalve keeps in the thin-walled aquaria filled with laminated quartz- mantle. They absorb carbon dioxide arising during cal- aragonite sediment and photographed with X-ray cium uptake from sea water, and emit oxygen, thus im- camera after 1, 3, 6, 25, 72 hours, and after a week. proving the bivalve’s welfare. They also constitute an Thin-walled aquaria filled with silica gel (almost trans- extra food source. Because of the symbiosis, the evolu- lucent when placed in water) contained juvenile U. tion of Tridacna involved an increase in the mantle sur- tumidus, U. pictorum and A. anatina (a total of 5 indi- face and changes in the relative position of body and viduals of shell length 6–14 mm); their behaviour was shell. The huge shell size, especially of T. gigas, was ad- recorded for 24 hours during 4–5 days. In both vari- mired and marvelled at by man. Tridacna shells served ants: 1) all juveniles of shell length of 6 mm or more as fonts, ornaments in artifical grottos in rococo gar- did not bury for the depth larger than that required dens and the pride of collectors – owners of natural to cover all the shell; 2) the behaviour of the more history cabinets in the 18th c. In Far East the bivalves strongly sculptured species did not differ significantly were consumed. Large pearls of irregular shape were from that of the poorly sculptured species. The pro- sometimes found in T. gigas. The Lao-Czu pearl, found ject was financed by the Warsaw Uniwersity grant BW in 1934, and called also the pearl of Allah, was among no. 68–183125. the largest: 240 mm long and weighing 6.4 kg. Its his- tory is long and rather mysterious. The pearl of Elias, found in 1977, is almost as large. The threat to popula- LATE TRIASSIC TRACES OF ATTACKS tions of large Tridacna suggested the idea of their farm- OF DIPNOAN FISHES ON BIVALVES ing. After many attempts, an array of stations and OF THE ORDER UNIONOIDA centres were established in the Indopacific islands, where the farmed individuals serve to re-stock the en- ALEKSANDRA SKAWINA, GRZEGORZ NIEDZWIEDZKI dangered areas. They also serve commercial purposes: Zak³ad Paleobiologii i Ewolucji, Instytut Zoologii consumption and aquaristics. Large farming centres Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego are located in the Marshall Islands, Tonga and Palau, and on the coast of the Philippines and Indonesia. Fossil bivalves of the order Unionoida were found in late Triassic deposits in three localities in Opole Silesia. The deposits from Krasiejów and WoŸniki, SHELL SCULPTURE AND LOCOMOTION probably of the same age, were dated as ca. 225 mln OF JUVENILE UNIONIDS IN BOTTOM years, those from Lipie Œl¹skie are probably much SEDIMENTS younger, ca. 210–200 mln years. In all the localities the bivalves were mainly preserved as prints and inter- ALEKSANDRA SKAWINA nal casts. Some bore traces of original shell damage: Zak³ad Paleobiologii i Ewolucji, Instytut Zoologii, fan-like impressions, scratches, wedges and egde frac- Wydzia³ Biologii, Uniwersytet Warszawski tures. Their character indicates a pathological origin. Remains of dipnoan fishes (cf. Ceratodus sp.) were All recent members of the order Unionoida have a found in the same deposits – among others their char- parasitic stage in the development, the host being acteristic shield-like teeth. The shell damages match 142 Seminar Report the teeth of Ceratodus in their shape and size. They ORGANISATION OF UNIONID were probably a result of attacks by the fish. The ab- MITOCHONDRIAL DNA sence of regeneration traces on the bivalve remains indicates that the bivalves were probably killed by the MARIANNA SOROKA fish and then buried in the deposit (not passing Katedra Genetyki, Uniwersytet Szczeciñski, WNP, through the fish digestive system). The occurrence of Szczecin traces of fish attacks on late Triassic fossil bivalves in- dicates a commonality of trophic relations in the eco- Vertebrate mitochondrial genomes (mtDNA) are systems from 225–200 mln years ago. very conservative with respect to their size, number and sequence of genes, as well as maternal inheri- tance (SMI, Strict Maternal Inheritance). In inverte- BIODIVERSITY OF SILESIAN VOIVODESHIP brates, including molluscs, mtDNA varies widely; bi- AS EXEMPLIFIED BY MOLLUSC DATABASE valves are especially noteworthy in this respect. The OF THE UPPER SILESIAN CENTRE bivalve mtDNA variation pertains to the size (from FOR NATURAL HERITAGE 15,712 bp in Cristaria plicata to 32,115 bp in Placopecten magellanicus), number of genes (no atp8 gene and ex- KATARZYNA SKOWROÑSKA tra tRNA gene for methionine in Mytilus) and their se- Centrum Dziedzictwa Przyrody Górnego Œl¹ska, quence, as well as inheritance. A departure from ma- Bytom ternal mtDNA inheritance has been detected in six bi- valve families (Mytilidae, Unionidae, Margaritiferi- Biodiversity of Silesian voivodeship is still unevenly dae, Hyriidae, Veneridae, Donacidae and Solenidae); known despite the several centuries of scientific stud- it is termed doubly uniparental inheritance (DUI). In ies in the area. The knowledge of recent mollusc the case of DUI the same species has female (F) and fauna is complete only in relation to aquatic molluscs male (M) mitochondrial genomes characterised by of the central part of the region. The Upper Silesian high nucleotide diversity, in unionids reaching Centre for Natural Heritage was established in 1992; 28–34% for single genes and up to 52% for whole mi- its aim is to study, document, protect and prognose tochondrial genomes. Besides, F and M genomes in the state of nature. One of the aims is creating com- unionids differ in the position of the tRNA gene puter databases (recent and historic) on the occur- (trnH), inversion of atp8-trnD region and the pres- rence of species, objects of inanimate nature and ence in male genomes of additional 185 codons (555 forms of nature protection. The data sources are pub- bp) on 3’ end of cox2 gene. Male genomes of unionids lications, unpublished papers and observations by the are longer and have more numerous non-coding se- staff and other naturalists. At present the database of quences compared to female genomes. Two types of mollusc occurence in Silesian voivodeship (Excel) in- organisation of female mtDNA have been distin- cludes more than 6,500 records of 193 species. Spatial guished based on gene sequence: frequent – present visualisation of faunistic data is done using GIS sys- in seven bivalve species (first described in Lampsilis tem, MapInfo programme. The data are used when ornata) and another, found in only two species of the preparing opinions on intiatives that may affect the subfamily Gonideinae. environment, applications to protect valuable areas, reports on the state of nature and regional red lists of species and habitats. In 2010 the Centre started pre- paring the Nature Protection Strategy of Silesian POLISH CONTRIBUTION TO THE STUDIES Voivodeship for 2011–2030, which is a part of the ON PALAEOZOIC TERRESTRIAL SNAILS country-wide State Strategy of Protection and Moder- ate Exploitation of Biodiversity, and a contribution to EWA STWORZEWICZ the aims of the Biodiversity Year proclaimed by the Instytut Systematyki i Ewolucji Zwierz¹t PAN, United Nations. Data on the occurrence of and Kraków threats to species of plants, fungi and animals, includ- ing molluscs, of Silesian voivodeship, will be updated Though the history of molluscs began more than in cooperation with specialists. 550 mln years ago, at the end of the Precambrian, the oldest fossils of terrestrial snails come from as late as Upper Carboniferous and Lower Permian deposits. The first land snails were found in fossil trunks of Sigillaria embedded in coal beds in Joggins (Nova Sco- tia) and in St. John in the region of New Brunswick, in North America. These two localities, and a few other North American formations yielded 12 species of seven genera, three of them being represented also in Seminar Report 143

Europe. Poland is among the few countries, next to snails were released. Shell increment since the last the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, France, marking was recorded for each recaptured snail. The Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic, where observations were conducted from April till October, such fossils were found. The fact that the same forms every 4–5 weeks during two vegetation seasons. A total appeared almost simultaneously in now very remote of more than 3,900 snails were marked; recaptures parts of the world is not surprising, considering that constituted 12–55% of each sample. Vestia turgida has Pangea was formed durign the Carboniferous and, as a relatively long reproductive season – juveniles ap- a result of Varisicinian orogenesis, a large mountain pear from the second half of June till August. During range arose, extending from the Appallachians the vegetation season in the Pieniny the juveniles through southern England, Central Massif, the grow on average by 3.3 whorls (maximum increment Ardennes and Harz, to the Œwiêtokrzyskie Mts, and 6.3 whorl), and in the highest-situated locality in the the American and European localities are situated on region of Ma³a £¹ka – by 1.3 whorl (maximum 2.2). In the same, northern, side of the mountains. In Poland the populations from lower altitudes in the Tatra the fossils of Palaeozoic snails were discovered in two lo- mean increment is 2.2–2.7 whorl (maximum 5–5.5). calities: Upper Carboniferous siderite concretions Such growth rate indicates that Vestia turgida attains from the black coal mine Por¹bka-Klimontów in Sos- ultimate size in the third (Pieniny, lower altitudes in nowiec and Lower Permian tufa in Karniowice near the Tatra) or fourth/fifth season of life (higher situ- Kraków. The spherosiderites contained imprints of ated localities). The shell growth terminates in late three shells, but only one was preserved sufficiently spring and summer. Vestia turgida is long-lived – in the well to reconstruct the shell shape. Unfortunately, be- Pieniny marked adults live for at least three years. cause of the absence of taxonomic characters the shell could not be assigned to species, genus or even family. In its shell form it is the closest to extant terres- CAN MORPHOLOGY BE THE BASIS trial prosobranchs Poteriidae or Pupinidae. The stud- FOR SYSTEMATICS OF RISSOOIDEA? ies on the Karniowice tufa started in the 19th c. and already then Zarêczny mentioned the presence of MAGDALENA SZAROWSKA, ANDRZEJ FALNIOWSKI snails in the tufa, though he never examined them. In 1936, based on these materials, Panow described a Pracownia Malakologiczna, Instytut Zoologii, new species of Dendropupa – D. zarecznyi. The studies, Uniwersytet Jagielloñski, Kraków resumed in recent years within the grant of the MNiSW (E. Stworzewicz, B. M. Pokryszko and J. Szulc Shells of Rissooidea, small snails of world-wide dis- – geologist from Jagiellonian University) yielded new tribution, are characterised by a paucity of systemati- materials, with another three species: Anhtracopupa cally useful characters. Useful characters were repeat- ohioensis, A. britannica and Protodiscus priscus. Due to edly searched for in the soft part anatomy, histology this discovery the Polish contribution to the studies or shell ultrastructure (FALNIOWSKI &SZAROWSKA on Palaeozoic land snails is considerable. 1995, WILKE et al. 2001, SZAROWSKA 2006), and not a single character was free of homoplasies. The results of fairly recent molecular studies (WILKE et al. 2001) LIFE CYCLE OF VESTIA TURGIDA rendered doubtful morphology-based phylogeny re- (ROSSMÄSSLER, 1836) – ALTITUDINAL constructions. SZAROWSKA (2006) tested an array of DIFFERENCES morphological characters in the Balkan members of Rissooidea. Mapping morphological characters on ANNA SULIKOWSKA-DROZD molecular tree showed that not a single morphologi- Katedra Zoologii Bezkrêgowców i Hydrobiologii cal character provided a basis for credible phylogeny Uniwersytetu £ódzkiego reconstruction. Besides numerous parallelisms and reversals, it was found that the evolution involved sev- Vestia turgida (Rossmässler, 1836) is an ovovivipa- eral composite structures each of which was a com- rous clausiliid found in various kinds of habitats in the plex of characters in classical sense. In such cases the Carpathians, from the foothills to the alpine zone. change (reversible) included the whole structure i.e. The aim of the study was to trace its population dy- all character complex. It seems that all the character namics, considering the wide vertical distribution states appeared early in phylogeny, to later become range and the associated climatic differences. The lost or re-acquired. This seems to confirm the great studies included four localities in the Pieniny Mts significance of regulatory genes in macroevolution, (Kroœcienko) and Tatra Mts (Ma³a £¹ka Valley), and and questions the concept of uniquely derived char- used marking-release-recapture method. In each lo- acters and traditional cladistic coding of characters cality snails were collected from an area of ca. 2 m2, and their states. The morphology can also be mislead- the shell height was measured, the whorls were ing when identifying species: species of Rissooidea counted, the shells were marked with varnish and the may be indistinguishable morphologically, but also 144 Seminar Report

(like in e.g. Bythinella) two species may differ or not, same was true of slow-growing individuals. The range depending on the locality. of R. filorana is composed of insular populations with FALNIOWSKI A., SZAROWSKA M. 1995. Can poorly probably very limited gene flow. The snails spend understood new characters support a poorly under- their life in the litter and their mobility is negligible. stood phylogeny? Shell-structure data in Hydrobiid This may also contribute to large interpopulation dif- systematics (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Prosobranchia: ferences. In older literature there was an attempt at Hydrobiidae). J. Zool. Syst. Evol. Res. 33: 133–144. distinguishing froms withing R. filograna: form SZAROWSKA M. 2006. Molecular phylogeny, system- transsylvanica Rossmässler, 1836; form catarrhactae atics and morphological character evolution in the Bielz, 1861 and form polita M. Kimakowicz, 1883. This Balkan Rissooidea (Caenogastropoda). Folia Malacol. study on variation indicates that any such distinction 14: 99–168. would be groundless. WILKE T., DAVIS G. M., FALNIOWSKI A., GIUSTI F., BODON M., SZAROWSKA M. 2001. Molecular systemat- ics of Hydrobiidae (Gastropoda: Rissooidea): testing WHICH FACTORS AFFECT THE ZEBRA MUSSEL monophyly and phylogenetic relationships. Proc. SPREAD IN THE MORAVA RIVER BASIN (CZECH Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad. 151: 1–21. REPUBLIC)?

E. TOŠENOVSKÝ,A.HÝBLOVÁ,I.UVÍROVÁ, VARIATION OF RUTHENICA FILOGRANA A. VLÁÈILOVÁ,V.UVÍRA (ROSSMÄSSLER, 1836) (GASTROPODA: PULMONATA: CLAUSILIIDAE) The zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha), one of the globally most important invasive species, has recently KRYSTYNA SZYBIAK been observed to massively invade small artificial water reservoirs in the Morava River basin. Many fac- Zak³ad Zoologii Ogólnej, Wydzia³ Biologii UAM, tors, such as temperature, oxygenation, pH, trophic Poznañ conditions etc. affect the presence, survival and re- Shell variation in Ruthenica filograna was studied production of the mussel; on the other hand, the based on collections, snails collected from lowland mussel, when present in masses, can affect the habi- and montane populations and specimens from lab- tat. In optimum conditions the density of the zebra oratory culture: in total 1,552 shells from 85 localities mussel may reach tens or hundreds thousands indi- (30 populations). Eleven shell parameters were sub- viduals per square metre. This usually causes radical ject to statistical analysis of intra- and inter-population changes in the structure of local biocoenoses. The in- variation (CVA, variance, correlation, dendrogram). tensive spread of the zebra mussel in the Morava River The most variable character in natural populations was basin involves mostly the flooplains, and floods favour ribbing (20%). The variation of basic shell measure- its dispersal to new localities. We mapped the occur- ments was within 5–8%. Most studied populations dif- rence of the mussel in small water reservoirs of the fered statistically significantly in most shell characters, Morava and Beèva river basins; we found the species but the variation ranges overlapped forming a contin- in 15 out of the 44 explored localities, and sampled its uum. No population showed variation ranges com- sites for the population size structure. The proportion pletely different from those of the remaining popula- of juveniles was high mainly in disturbed water bodies tions. High similarity was observed between lowland (sandpits of active mines). Selected water parameters and montane populations, and populations from dif- were analysed for all the water bodies. The poster ferent geographical regions. With increasing altitude shows the results of monitoring and discusses the the number of whorls increased. It seems that the en- flood dispersal as well as the effect of some factors on vironmental factors enforcing estivation and hiberna- the populations of the zebra mussel. tion, rather than genetic factors, affect the shell size. In all the studied populations the apertural barriers varied, but no apertural barrier pattern was specific to THERMAL PREFERENCES OF PLANORBARIUS any population or group of populations. Observa- CORNEUS (L.) NATURALLY INFECTED tions of specimens from laboratory and wild popula- WITH DIGENETIC TREMATODES tions showed that the apertural barriers in R. filograna were phenotypically plastic and could vary under the EL¯BIETA ¯BIKOWSKA effect of environmental conditions. Biometrical char- Zak³ad Zoologii Bezkrêgowców, Instytut Biologii acters of specimens born and grown in the laboratory Ogólnej i Molekularnej, Uniwersytet Miko³aja were within the variation range of natural popula- Kopernika, Toruñ tions. No correlation between the growth rate and ul- timate size was observed in the laboratory. Fast-grow- Behavioural observations make it possible to con- ing snails reached ultimately large or small size; the clude about thermoreception abilities of gastropods. Seminar Report 145

Thermosensitivity of neurons has been experimen- starvation and delicate damage to integument re- tally confirmed in e.g. Aplysia californica or Helix po- sulted in selecting temperatures below the acclima- matia. The researchers based their conclusions on dif- tion point: 18°C and 12°C, respectively. Thermal pref- ferences in reactions to changing temperatures. In erences of naturally infected snails depended on the the studies on Planorbarius corneus, and earlier on trematode species and development stage. Hosts with Lymnaea stagnalis, animals subject to experimental prepatent invasion selected temperatures above 26°C, and natural factors which modified their metabolism, hosts spreading cercariae, depending on the kind of could choose among microhabitats of different tem- invasion – 14–23°C. The results suggest that: 1. P. perature. The observations aimed at recognising ther- corneus is thermophilous, but starved or wounded mal preferences of planorbids which, contrary to shelters in cooler microhabitats; 2. the presence of lymnaeids, have haemoglobin in their haemolymph, parasitic larvae of digenetic trematodes does not and thus testing the hypothesis of thermoreception evoke a fever reaction, but snails with patent invasion abilities of gastropods. Thermal behaviour of snails subject to starvation, pricked with a thin needle or of some trematode species shelter in microhabitats naturally infected with eight different species of with temperatures below the acclimation point; the digenetic trematodes, at prepatency or patency stage, behavioural reaction to body damage, experimental was observed and compared with preferences of con- or by parasite larvae, has symptoms of behavioural trol snails. Uninfected, lettuce-fed control snails se- anapyrexia. The study was financed by the MNiSW lected ambient temperature higher than acclimation grant no. 3247/B/P01/2009/36. temperature (20°C versus more than 27°C). Two week