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From the Mediterranean to Yungas and Patagonia. Dispersal of the non-native gastropod Rumina decollata in Argentina

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Abstract

Rumina decollata is a land snail native to the Mediterranean region that expanded its distribution to several regions of Africa, Asia and the Americas due to accidental or purposely introductions. In Argentina, it was reported in 1988 in the outskirts of Buenos Aires City, and expanded its distribution thenceforth. This facultative self-fertilizer is omnivorous and presents high resistance to extreme climatic conditions facilitating the establishment and colonization of new environments. It is considered an invasive species, crop pest and predator of native invertebrates in several countries; it is also a host of Aelurostrongylus abstrusus and Toxocara cati, two cat parasites able to affect humans. As R. decollata inhabits mostly private gardens, it is difficult to do extensive sampling. So, we performed a citizen science project through social media to update its distribution in Argentina. As a result, we got 696 records from 179 cities and towns in 16 provinces and the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, throughout the country from Patagonia to Northern Argentina. We here present the first record of R. decollata for eight new provinces and 166 new localities, so that the extreme localities currently confirmed in the country are > 2100 km apart, over different ecoregions, from sea level to 1900 m above sea. This snail inhabits urban and peri-urban areas and it is likely that it colonizes natural environments in a near future due to its high dispersal capacity. Our data confirm that Rumina decollata has spread rapidly in Argentina during the last three decades.

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Acknowledgements

We are deeply grateful to the more than 600 citizen scientists and colleagues who contributed with information on the species occurrences. We are thankful to the editor and two anonymous referees for their constructive comments that improved the manuscript. JP and NJC are staff researchers of CONICET (Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Argentina) and CIC (Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas de la Provincia de Buenos Aires), respectively.

Funding

This study was supported by Universidad Nacional del Sur (PGI N°44928).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Biología, Bioquímica y Farmacia, Universidad Nacional del Sur, San Juan 670, Bahía Blanca, Argentina

    Julia Pizá, Julián Guerrero Spagnuoli, Néstor Sebastián Dop & Néstor J. Cazzaniga

  2. Centro de Recursos Naturales Renovables de la Zona Semiárida (CERZOS), CONICET-Universidad Nacional del Sur, Bahía Blanca, Argentina

    Julia Pizá & Julián Guerrero Spagnuoli

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  1. Julia Pizá
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  3. Néstor Sebastián Dop
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  4. Néstor J. Cazzaniga
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. JP, JGS and NSD performed the data collection and the analyses. JP wrote the first draft of the manuscript; NJC critically revised and improved it. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Julia Pizá.

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Pizá, J., Spagnuoli, J.G., Dop, N.S. et al. From the Mediterranean to Yungas and Patagonia. Dispersal of the non-native gastropod Rumina decollata in Argentina. Biologia 78, 865–871 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11756-022-01293-3

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