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Exotic invasive Pomacea maculata (Giant Apple Snail) will depredate eggs of frog and toad species of the Southeastern US

Jacoby Carter·Darren Johnson·Sergio Merino
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Abstract

Pomacea maculata (Perry) (Giant Apple Snail) is a freshwater snail native to South America ( Hayes et al. 2015 ) that is an invasive species in the freshwater wetlands and waterways of the northern Gulf of Mexico, peninsular Florida ( Benson 2017 , Burks 2017 ) and globally ( Hayes et al. 2015 ). Karraker and Dudgeon ( 2014 ) found that Pomacea canaliculata (Lamarck) (Channeled Apple Snail) opportunistically ate frog eggs. The Giant Apple Snail is a sister species to the Channeled Apple Snail and shares similar life-history attributes ( Hayes et al. 2015 ). However, the literature indicates that Giant Apple Snail is presumed to be an herbivore (e.g., Burke et al. 2017 , Burlakova et al. 2009 ). Will Giant Apple Snail eat amphibian eggs? If they do, they could have a negative impact on anuran populations throughout their introduced range. In this study, we presented Giant Apple Snails with frog and toad eggs to determine if they would eat them.

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Jacoby Carter, Darren Johnson, Sergio Merino. 2018-09-11. Exotic invasive Pomacea maculata (Giant Apple Snail) will depredate eggs of frog and toad species of the Southeastern US. https://doi.org/10.1656/058.017.0313

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