Padilla-Maldonado, Bredwin Joel

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    Diet description of Caracolus caracolla (Gastropoda: Camaenidae) in two locations of the north karst of Puerto Rico
    (2021-05-12) Padilla-Maldonado, Bredwin Joel; Santos-Flores, Carlos J.; College of Arts and Sciences - Sciences; Puente-Rolón, Alberto R.; van Ee, Benjamin; Department of Biology; Parés-Matos, Elsie I.
    The ecology of land snails in Puerto Rico has been studied mainly in events associated with disturbances and in the northwest area of the island. Specifically, many ecological aspects, such as the diet of one of the largest and commoner species, Caracolus caracolla, are unknown in populations throughout the island. Localized studies have reported that this species has a general herbivorous diet. Therefore, this study aimed to use two methods to describe the diet of C. caracolla in two populations associated with the northern karst. First, foraging observations of the snail were made for a period of eight months, in two night-visits per month to each forest. Secondly, with the use of stable isotopes, the assimilation of possible food sources in the snail tissue was evaluated. The results of field observations suggested that the snail preferred the consumption of tracheophytes and did not showed evident preference for plant species regarding the nine plant genera upon which foraging behavior was observed. On the other hand, the stable isotope analysis showed that fungi and tracheophytes were important components for the integration of nutrients in snails’ tissues. It is concluded that C. caracolla in these karst populations showed a general herbivore diet.