An Acoustic Treatment to Mitigate the Effects of the Apple Snail on Agriculture and Natural Ecosystems

Abstract

Global change is the origin of increased occurrence of disturbance events in natural communities, with biological invasions constituting a major threat to ecosystem integrity and functioning. The apple snail (Pomacea maculata) is a freshwater gastropod mollusk from South America. Considered one of the 100 most harmful invasive species in the world, due to its voracity, resistance, and high reproductive rate, it has become a global problem for wetland crops. In Catalonia, it has affected the rice fields of the Ebre Delta since 2010 with significant negative impact on the local economy. As a gastropod mollusc it possesses statocysts consisting of a pair of sacs, one located on each side of the foot, that contain multiple calcium carbonate statoconia. This study shows the first ultrastructural images of pathological changes in the sensory epithelium of the statocyst of apple snail adults with an increase in the severity of the lesions over time after exposure to low frequency sounds. Sound-induced damage to the statocyst could likely result in an inhibition of its vital functions resulting in a potential reduction in the survival ability of the apple snail and lead to an effective mitigation method for reducing damage to rice fields.