"Diversity of Snails in Selected River Streams in General Emilio Aguinaldo, Cavite”

Background of the Study

With an estimated species richness of 80,000 to 135,000, gastropods are the most diverse invertebrate
group after arthropods. According to reports, the Philippines alone has approximately 31% (22,000 of
70,000 species) of all described mollusks worldwide, with 2-4% endemism. Land snails are estimated to
have around 35,000 extant species, with the tropics serving as a shelter for most of them. The geological
barrier between islands successfully increased endemism by preventing land snail movement across forest
environments.

In the Philippines, explored for malacofaunal variety, it is quite possible that the bulk of land snails have
gone unexplored or undescribed. Currently, it is home to many invertebrate species,
that includes pulmonated stylommatophoran snails (88 identified species) and terrestrial prosobranch
snails (14 described species). These figures are likely to be massive underestimations of the real
malacofaunal diversity in the Philippines, as many more undescribed or cryptic species may exist.

Freshwater snails are members of the Gastropoda class, which can be found on every continent except
Antarctica and in practically every aquatic ecosystem, including rivers, lakes, streams, swamps,
subterranean aquifers and springs, ponds, drainages, ditches, and other ephemeral and seasonal
waterbodies. Freshwater gastropods are divided into three primary subclasses: prosobranchia (gills in
front of the heart), pisthobranchia (gills to the right and behind the heart), and pulmonata (gills behind the
heart) (with a lung instead of gills).

Onyekachi Esther Nwoko 1,* , Chester Kalinda

Why is studying snail species in freshwater important

In the area of community ecology, determining the species structure and composition of biotic
assemblages, particularly patterns of variation in spatial distribution, is critical. Its goal is to understand
how different species' communities are organized by detecting, describing, and explaining patterns that
determine community structure. This work is made slightly easier with terrestrial gastropods because
most species can be identified by their shells, including empty shells, and are strongly contained within
their habitat. Empty shells must be included since their presence can give evidence of occupation, a
record of environmental change, and reflect species that are no longer found in the area.

Other studies of snail species diversity in freshwater

Objectives of the Study

The general objective of this study was to determine the diversity of snails (Gastropoda) in the selected
rivers in General Emilio Aguinaldo, Cavite.

Specifically, it aims:

1. to identify the snail species present in the selected rivers of General Emilio Aguinaldo, Cavite;

2. to determine the diversity indices of snails in the selected rivers of General Emilio Aguinaldo, Cavite;

3. to determine the physicochemical properties of the selected rivers in terms of:

a) pH

b) Temperature

c) Dissolved Oxygen (DO)

d) Total Dissolved Solids (TDS)

e) Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD);

4. to correlate the diversity of snails with physicochemical characteristics of the

selected rivers.

Statement of the Problem

This study aims to answer the following questions:

1. What Gastropod species are present in the selected rivers of General Emilio Aguinaldo, Cavite?

2. What are the diversity indices of Gastropods in the selected rivers of General Emilio Aguinaldo,
Cavite?
3. What are the physico–chemical characteristics of the selected rivers in General Emilio Aguinaldo,
Cavite in terms of pH, water temperature, dissolved oxygen (DO), total dissolved solids (TDS), and
biochemical oxygen demand (BOD)?

4. What are the characteristics of the three selected rivers in terms of vegetation and environment, bottom
sediments/ substrate type and depth?

5. Is there a correlation between the diversity of snails and the physicochemical characteristics of the
selected rivers?

Significance of the Study

This study may provide crucial information and knowledge on the species and habitat characteristics of
freshwater snails found in General Emilio Aguinaldo, Cavite. It may also provide data regarding the
diversity and bioindicator indices of freshwater snail species found in the region.

Scope and Limitation

This research focuses on finding out the primary physico-chemical parameters (pH, water temperature,
dissolved oxygen (DO), total dissolved solids (TDS), and biochemical oxygen demand (BOD)
that contribute to the condition of freshwater rivers in General Emilio Aguinaldo, Cavite namely; [name
of selected rivers]

This study will not move past advanced parameters, such as conductivity, turbidity, and coliform count
and will only measure basic parameters within specified river streams.

Definition of Terms

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Biology and Ecology of Snails

Mollusca are the second largest phylum of the animal kingdom, forming a major part of the world fauna.
The Gastropoda is the only class of molluscs which have successfully invaded land. They are one of the
most diverse groups of animals, both in shape and habit. Among gastropods, land snails (subclass:
Pulmonata) are one of the most numerous with almost 35,000 described species of the world. The
Phylum Mollusca is probably the third most important animal group after the arthropods and
vertebrates (South, 1992) Snails and slugs belong to the class Gastropoda. Snails and slugs are molluscs,
a group of invertebrate animals with soft unsegmented bodies. Slugs are often described as snails
without a shell, while snail bodies are enclosed in calcareous shells (Barker, 2001; Ramzy, 2009). The
terrestrial mollusca including snails and slugs are destructive agricultural pests causing economic
damage to a wide variety of plants including horticulture, field crops, and forestry. In addition they are
of importance in medical and veterinary practice, since they serve as intermediate hosts for certain
trematode flukes and roundworms.

Gastropods such as slugs and snails secrete a trail of mucus from their pedal gland while traveling across
a surface (Denny, 1983). The unique mechanical properties of snail pedal mucus enable the animal’s
locomotion while also causing the mucus to function as an adhesive to the substrate. The mucus trail
performs a number of other functions, including the provision of mechanisms for re-tracing a path and
for finding a mate of the same species by following a trail (Al-Sanabani, 2008). An understand ding of the
functionality of trail mucus, including its interactions with water vapour, can therefore lead to a means
of controlling the reproduction of snails and thereby limiting their impact on the environment, especially
vegetable crops. When freshly deposited by terrestrial snails, trails of pedal mucus are reported to be in
the range of 10 – 20 mm thick (Denny, 1989). But since the mucus typically consists of between 90 and
99.7% water by weight (Denny 1983), the trails dry to leave a much thinner solid film. It is generally
believed that the fundamental structure of mucus gels consists of giant protein– polysaccharide
complexes. This complex is usually classified into the broad categories of mucopolysaccharides and
glycoproteins (Davies & Hawkins, 1998; Denny, 1983); mucus secretions can function as effective
adhesives due to their viscoelasticity (Abd El-wakeil, 2005; Daoud, 2004; Grenon & Walker, 1980).

Diversity and Status of Snails local and international

The Philippines harbors 31% (22,000 out of 70,000 species) of all mollusks described worldwide (Ong et
al. 2002) with approximately 90–95% endemism, but most of the recorded are marine species. There are
very few terrestrial malacological studies (Bartsch 1909; Clench and Archer 1931; Faustino 1930; Valdez
et al. 2021) that particularly focus on karsts. However, many researchers in the country are less
interested to study land snails. Some of the reasons could be the inaccessibility of literature on
Philippines mollusks, particularly on taxonomy. According to Springsteen and Leobrera (1986), the
taxonomy of these animals is likewise in a state of flux due to many species are morphologically very
similar and it is difficult to identify the specimen even at a family level. Moreover, juveniles are
sometimes hardly distinguishable from their adult forms.

Snail biodiversity in different habitat/ niche

Freshwater snails are widespread non-native species that can exert significant ecological
effects on recipient communities and ecosystems. For instance, they can alter primary
production and nutrient cycling (Carlsson & Bronmark, 2006; Hall et al., 2003, 2006;
Moslemi et al., 2012), outcompete other community members (Pointier et al., 2011), serve
as prey for consumers (Cattau et al., 2016; Yamanishi et al., 2012), or transmit parasites of
wildlife, livestock, and human health importance (Madsen & Frandsen, 1989; Pointier, 1999;
Sauer et al., 2007). Owing to this diversity of interactions, non-native freshwater snails can
cause undesirable impacts (e.g., economic losses from agricultural pests; Halwart, 1994;
Naylor, 1996); or alternatively, they may provide valued ecological roles (e.g., positive
effects on native species of conservation concern; Cattau et al., 2016). Despite their
importance, several challenges have hindered a holistic understanding of the global status,
ecology, and conservation implications of non-native freshwater snails. Among these issues
are confusion over taxonomic identities, a limited knowledge of global geographical
patterns, and gaps in understanding of ecology of non-native snails in their introduced
ranges. To date, a number of papers have reviewed non-native freshwater snails in specific
geographical areas (Araya, 2015; Cowie, 1998; Darrigran et al., 2020; Karatayev et al., 2009;
Kesner & Kumschick, 2018; Naranjo-Garcia & Castillo-Rodriguez, 2017; Pointier, 2001; Roll
et al., 2009) or have focused on specific snail taxa (Alonso & Castro-Díez, 2008, 2012; Hayes
et al., 2015; Horgan et al., 2014; Pointier et al., 2005), but a global synthesis does not exist.

Snails as Bioindicator

Molluscs have been used extensively as bioindicators of pollution in estuarine and marine systems
(Bayne et al. 1985), but much less in freshwater systems. Like the marine species, freshwater mussels
and snails have the potential to be very useful for biomonitoring studies. This potential has been
realized with increasing frequency in recent years, as reflected in the literature on inland surface-water
contaminant studies. Although much more limited in terms of species diversity than their marine
counterparts, the freshwater molluscs are widely distributed in nearly all types of surface-water
systems, and they are frequently very abundant.

Invertebrate species, such as snails are recognized as appropriate biological indicators due to their
potential accumulation of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and metallic trace elements and are also
used as a research species to evaluate the effect of these pollutants on their development (Cossi et al.,
2018; Krupnova et al., 2018; Hodkinson and Jackson, 2005) (Fig. 1). For instance, terrestrial snails (Helix
aspersa, Cepaea nemoralis, Theba pisana and Eobania vermiculata) are excellent biomonitors of
environmental contamination due to their easy sampling, wide distribution, high tolerance to stress and
their ability to accumulate diverse contaminants in the air, soil and flora (Soltani, 2013; Itziou and
Dimitriadis, 2011; De Vaufleury and Pihan, 2000).

Related studies of snail biodive in freshwater

Baroudi et al. (2020) investigated the viability of using various types of snails as potential and suitable
monitoring matrices to evaluate air pollution and to trace heavy metal and persistent organic pollutants
(POPs) concentration by utilizing various extraction techniques, such as Soxhlet extraction, Accelerated
Solvent Extraction, Pressurized Hot Water Extraction, Microwave-Assisted Extraction, Solid
Phase extraction, and Microwave Acid Digestion.
Parcon and Perez (2022) conducted a diversity survey of freshwater and land mollusks of the University
of the Philippines Laguna Land Grant (UPLLG) with a total of 25 quadrats (15m 2) on upstream and
downstream stations along Dakil River and its tributaries. Using Generalized linear mixed models
(GLMM), they found out that river velocity was the most significant predictor of species richness of
freshwater mollusks, and that abundance was strongly influenced by temperature and inversely influenced
by canopy cover. In addition, altitude was the most significant predictor of land snail species diversity
and canopy cover abundance. Understanding the diversity of mollusks could aid in determining the
ecological and environmental conditions of a watershed for its effective management and preservation.
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