The macro-gastropod communities of aquaculture-intensive lakes in the Philippines

ABSTRACT

Intensive aquaculture in natural lakes has been shown to have negative effects on biodiversity. We conducted a study on the diversity and distribution of macro-gastropods (>1 cm) in three major lakes used for aquaculture on Luzon, the largest island in the Philippines archipelago, to provide baseline information on freshwater gastropods. Collections were made in 27 sampling sites in all three lakes. The samples were identified by examining the shell and radula. The gastropod collection comprised 13 species in six families, including 12 new records in Laguna de Bay and seven new records for Lake Taal. All species found in Lake Sampaloc are considered new records due to the lack of published literature on its gastropod fauna. There is low gastropod diversity in all three lakes. Distribution within the lakes is related to the presence of suitable habitats for each species rather than the size and geological origin of the lakes. The proximity of all three lakes may have facilitated gastropod dispersal between them, as all have similar environmental conditions brought about by intensive aquaculture activities.

KEYWORDS:

• Ampullaridae
• biodiversity
• Gastropoda
• invasive species
• Lymnaeidae
• Mollusca
• Pachychilidae
• Planorbidae
• Thiaridae
• Viviparidae

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the Research Center for Natural and Applied Sciences of the University of Santo Tomas for the facilities provided to conduct our research. The authors would also like to acknowledge the assistance provided by Dr. Jonathan Carlo Briones, the staff of the Taal Lake Conservation Center (Mataas na Kahoy, Batangas), Mr. Carlito Mendoza of San Pablo City and Mr. Lorenzo Igle, Nazario Orzo and Ms. Mabel Orense of Balete, Batangas and Hon. Capt. Henry T. Arambulo of Janosa, Binangonan, Rizal for all the help they provided during field work. Lastly, we would like to thank the anonymous reviewers of this manuscript for their helpful comments.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCiD

Roberto C. Pagulayan http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9959-1602

Francis S. Magbanua http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7373-373X

Rey Donne S. Papa http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0146-2525

Additional information

Funding

This project was funded by the Commission on Higher Education—Philippine Higher Education Research Network (CHED-PHERNet) Project A1 of RDS Papa and GA Cauyan.