Intraspecific variation in resistance to desiccation in the land snail Theba pisana

Zeev Arad*, Shoshana Goldenberg, Tzameret Avivi, Joseph Heller

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

16 Scopus citations

Abstract

Theba pisana is a bush-dwelling snail with a circum-Mediterranean distribution. In Israel it is limited to a narrow coastal strip, along which there is a north-to-south gradient in mean annual rainfall (700-300 mm per year). In this study we found significant intraspecific differences among populations of T. pisana in resistance to desiccation along this gradient, and in a population from Greece, which may be grossly correlated with the climatic gradient. The Greek population was the least resistant to desiccation with an extremely high rate of water loss. The differences in total mass loss were mainly determined by the rate of water loss during the first 4 days of desiccation. A general phenomenon during desiccation was the close regulation of the soft body water content at the expense of the extra-pallial fluid compartment.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)183-189
Number of pages7
JournalInternational Journal of Biometeorology
Volume37
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 1993

Keywords

  • Desiccation
  • Distribution
  • Land snail
  • Theba pisana

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