Induction of spawning and artificial incubation of eggs in the edible snail Pomacea urceus (Muller)

The neotropical freshwater gastropod Pomacea urceus is amphibious, herbivorous and attains a size of 145 mm. The snail fetches a high price of $US 5/kg, and current demand is met by collection from the wild, leading to over-exploitation. This is a potential aquaculture species, but there is the need for hatchery production of juveniles, since collection of seedstock from the wild is difficult. Wild-collected adult P. urceus were placed in 0.4 m² concrete troughs filled with soil and water. Mating was induced by a decrease in water level, and after mating, the snails burrowed into the substratum where egg-laying occurred. The recently laid eggs were carefully removed from the females and placed into darkened aquaria where the temperature was maintained at 27±3 °C and the humidity was kept above 80%. After an incubation period of 21 to 34 days, young crawling snails emerged. Mean survivorship was 96%.