Abstract
The widely distributed snail species Theodoxus fluviatilis (Linneaus, 1758) is rather diverse in shell size and patterning. It has formed regional subgroups in northern Germany that appear separate in either fresh- or brackish water, yet, according to literature, are indistinguishable by morphology, anatomy or mtRNA markers. Tolerance towards challenging salinities, however, is distinct. The question as to whether the observed difference in salinity tolerance is a result of local adaptation or of phenotypic plasticity remains. In this study, physiological limits to salinity stress and tolerance shift abilities were compared between individuals from both subgroups in a salinity transfer experiment and acclimation regime followed by a survival analysis. Brackish water animals struggled in freshwater but performed much better than freshwater individuals when directly transferred into higher salinities. With acclimation to their challenging salinities, individuals of both subgroups achieved shifts in the slopes of their reaction norms and were able to survive salinity levels otherwise lethal to them. Even with this shift freshwater animals were not able reach the tolerance levels of brackish water individuals. The results indicate that phenotypic plasticity as well as genetic adaptation may determine osmotolerance in regional subgroups of T. fluviatilis.
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank all members of the working group of ‘Animal Physiology and Biochemistry’ at the University of Greifswald for their help with the snail collections. A special thanks goes to Alexander Kolb for helping with the snail husbandry and Dana Kleimeier for critical reviewing the R script of the survival analysis. We also gratefully thank PD Dr. Blindow (Biological Station Hiddensee) for obtaining permissions to collect snails on the island. This research was funded by the DFG Research Training Group RESPONSE (DFG GRK2010). Permission for the snail collections was given by Nationalparkamt Vorpommersche Boddenlandschaft, Born, Germany (24-5303.3).
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AAW and J-PH conceived the ideas and designed methodology; AAW collected and analysed the data; AAW drafted the manuscript. All authors contributed to the preparation of the final manuscript and gave approval for publication.
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Wiesenthal, A.A., Müller, C. & Hildebrandt, JP. Potential modes of range shifts in euryhaline snails from the Baltic Sea and fresh water lakes in northern Germany. Hydrobiologia 811, 339–350 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-017-3501-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-017-3501-z