World Congress of Malacology Antwerp ... - Unitas Malacologica

ampullariid genera as currently defined are not monophyletic clades easily delimited from one
another. Preliminary assessments of anatomical characters, particularly penial sheath morphology,
support the species-groupings recovered using molecular data. Also, phylogenetic relationships
suggest that oviposition may have played a key role in the extraordinary diversification and
distribution of Pomacea spp.
Caught in the act: Insights into the sex life of Lanistes ovum (Gastopoda: Ampullariidae)
Heiler, Katharina C. M.; Schultheiß, Roland; Geertz, Thies; Albrecht, Christian
Department of Animal Ecology and Systematics, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Heinrich-Buff-
Ring 26-32 (IFZ), D-35392 Giessen, Germany,
Email: KatharinaHeiler@gmx.de; Roland.Schultheiss@allzool.bio.uni-giessen.de;
ThiesGeertz@googlemail.com; Christian.Albrecht@allzool.bio.uni-giessen.de
The freshwater gastropod family Ampullariidae is distributed worldwide in the tropics and
subtropics. Due to the fact that some species of the ampullariid genus Pomacea PERRY, 1810 have
become serious agricultural pest species in different parts of the world, these taxa are common
scientific study objects. Especially copulation and reproductive behaviour of Pomacea canaliculata
(LAMARCK, 1819) are studied intensively. In contrast, very little is known about the behaviour and
life cycle of the African ampullariid genus Lanistes MONTFORT, 1810, which is clearly
distinguishable from all other ampullariid genera by a sinistral shell. In Lake Malawi (African Rift
Valley), five species of the genus Lanistes are currently recognized. We collected individuals of
Lanistes ovum PETERS, 1845 within and in the surroundings of Lake Malawi and brought them to
Germany alive. To our knowledge this is the first time that individuals of L.ovum were kept and bred
successfully in the laboratory. Here we report on their reproduction and give details on courtship and
copulation behaviour which differs considerably from the copulation behaviour of the dextral
P.canaliculata. Differences in reproduction include, for instance, copulation position due to the
sinistral shell and duration of the copulation. Furthermore, we describe size and number of the
spawns as well as size and number of the eggs and hatchlings. These findings are briefly compared to
the reproductive behaviour of the invasive P.canaliculata. We then discuss the implications of the
respective reproductive behaviour in the context of ampullariid invasiveness.
Identification and genetic characterization of new populations of the endangered winged
mapleleaf, Quadrula fragosa
Hemmingsen, Amanda H.; Serb, Jeanne M.
Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology, Bessey Hall 253, Iowa State University,
Ames, Iowa 50010 USA,
Email: hemm0058@iastate.edu; serb@iastate.edu
The North American freshwater mussel fauna of the family Unionidae are one of most endangered
groups of organisms in the world. Reasons for this decline are not well understood, but are
presumably due to habitat degradation. For example, the winged mapleleaf, Quadrula fragosa, was
historically found in the Tennessee, Cumberland, Ohio, and Mississippi River basins in east-central
United States. However, by 1991 the range of this species appeared to be reduced to a single
population in the St. Croix River of the central United States, resulting in federal protection of Q.
fragosa and the development of conservation management plans for species recovery. Recently,
individuals that are morphologically similar to Q. fragosa have been found in Arkansas, Missouri,
and Oklahoma. If these southern populations are true Q. fragosa, they will need to be included in
conservation management plans. We conducted a phylogenetic analysis of mitochondrial ND1 gene
sequences to genetically identify these “fragosa” morphotypes. Our results indicate that these
southern populations indeed belong to Q. fragosa. We now are characterizing the genetic structure of
all known Q. fragosa populations with newly developed microsatellite markers. These data will
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