The role of spotted green pufferfish Tetraodon nigroviridis in controlling golden apple snail Pomacea canaliculata: an effective biological control approach involving a new agent

ABSTRACT

The golden apple snail Pomacea canaliculata is invasive in South China and poses serious harm to agricultural production and aquatic ecosystems. In the present study, we investigated the predatory potential of the spotted green pufferfish Tetraodon nigroviridis (50 mm in body length) on snails of various sizes in fresh and brackish water (4.5 ppt salinity). The survival and damage rates of 50 snails were estimated at 1, 3, 5 and 7 days. The survival rate of snails, including 10 adult snails (20–35 mm shell height), decreased less than 25% in the presence of pufferfish, and this decrease was more profound in brackish than in fresh water. Approximately 98% of the snails died in brackish water in the presence of only four pufferfish. The pufferfish also inflicted a high rate of snail injury resulting from attacks involving bites. In addition, the pufferfish affected the behaviour of the snails, with more than 95% of snails exhibiting tightly closed opercula. Thus, the results of this study suggest that pufferfish are effective for the biological control of golden apple snails.

KEYWORDS:

• Biological control
• freshwater
• predatory capacity
• behaviour
• brackish water

Acknowledgement

The authors thank Dr Ying Ouyang, USDA Forest Service (USA), for constructive comments and revisions of the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was financially supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant number U1131006], [grant number 30770403] and [grant number 30900187], Guangdong Province Science and Technology Program [grant number 2007B02079007], [grant number 2011B020309009] and [grant number 2015B090903077], Foundation for High-level Talents in Higher Education of Guangdong [grant number Guangdong Teachers Letter [2010] 79] and the High-level Foreign Talents Introduction Program of the Guangdong Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs [grant number [2010] 51].