A Field Study of a Vanishing Species, Achatinella mustelina (Gastropoda, Pulmonata), in the Waianae Mountains of Oahu
Date
1980-10
Contributor
Advisor
Department
Instructor
Depositor
Speaker
Researcher
Consultant
Interviewer
Narrator
Transcriber
Annotator
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Hawaii Press
Volume
Number/Issue
Starting Page
Ending Page
Alternative Title
Abstract
A population of Achatinella mustelina occupying four trees
within a 5 x 5-m quadrat on a ridge in the Waianae Mountains of Oahu,
Hawaii, was studied by mark-recapture techniques. Between September 1974
and December 1975, 222 snails were individually marked and measured.
Recapture analyses indicate that the standing population consisted of about
220 snails, of which an average of 40 percent were large enough to be sexually
reproductive. Growth of A. mustelina was found to be slow, averaging about 2
mm increase in length per year from a birth size of 4.50 mm to a size at
terminal growth of 18.44 mm. Maturity is estimated to occur at an age of 6.9
yr. During the course of the study, snails belonging to the introduced
predatory species Euglandina rosea were found progressively nearer the study
site. In August 1979, shells of E. rosea were abundant in and about the study
area and no living specimens of A. mustelina or any other arboreal snail
species could be found. We conclude that E. rosea was responsible for the
destruction of the population under study and that species with life histories
similar to that of A. mustelina stand little chance of surviving the ravages of
such introduced predators.
Description
Keywords
Citation
Hadfield MG, Mountain BS. 1980. A field study of a vanishing species, Achatinella mustelina (Gastropoda, Pulmonata), in the Waianae Mountains of Oahu. Pac Sci 34(4): 345-358.
Extent
Format
Geographic Location
Time Period
Related To
Related To (URI)
Table of Contents
Rights
Rights Holder
Local Contexts
Collections
Email libraryada-l@lists.hawaii.edu if you need this content in ADA-compliant format.