Invasion of Channeled Apple Snail Pomacea canaliculata, Lamarck (Gastropoda: Ampullariidae) in Haleji Lake, Pakistan

Abstract

Golden apple snail Pomacea canaliculata is a highly invasive gastropod species. In Southeast Asia it was first introduced to Taiwan in 1981 for farming as food. Since then it has expanded to most of Asian countries except Indian Subcontinent. Recently it has invaded Haleji Lake, Sind, Pakistan. The invasion is linked to aquarium traders. At present dense populations can be seen along shallow beach area of the lake. To study shell morphology different body measurements including shell length, width and thickness, aperture length and width were measured. The results indicated that males are smaller than females. The coefficient of correlation showed a highly significant relationship of shell length and aperture length (r 2 =0.95). The invasion of P. canaliculata in Indian Subcontinent puts India and Bangladesh on high risk.