Life history observations of the Illinois state endangered Enigmatic Cavesnail, Fontigens antroecetes (Hubricht, 1940) made under simulated cave conditions

Abstract

The Enigmatic Cavesnail, Fontigens antroecetes (Hubricht, 1940), is a cave adapted hydrobioid snail listed as state endangered in Illinois. It is known from only one cave in Illinois, Stemler Cave, and from several caves in the eastern Ozark ecoregion of Missouri. Little is known about the snail’s reproductive habits, embryological development, or growth rates. I attempted to gain basic life history information by breeding Enigmatic Cavesnails under simulated cave conditions in the laboratory. Six adult snails were collected from Stemler Cave and held in aerated containers of cave water with one or two cobbles from the cave stream. Containers of snails were housed in incubators set at the average cave water temperature of 13 °C. The snails produced 49 embryos in captivity over the course of 34 weeks. Eggs were deposited singly, attached to the underside of rocks within small pits or crevices. Nearly 82% of embryos developed to hatching. Mean estimated development time of embryos was 70.7 days. Survival of hatchling snails was poor. Limited data available from surviving hatchling snails suggests slow growth rates. The process was replicated with nine Enigmatic Cavesnails collected from Cliff Cave in St. Louis County MO. Captive Cliff Cave snails produced 34 embryos over 46 weeks and varied from the Stemler population in their oviposition behavior, with a majority of eggs deposited on the top surface of rocks. Cliff Cave snail embryos also had longer mean estimated development times (82.17 days).