Does radioactive contamination affect the shell morphology of the pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis in the exclusion zone of the Chernobyl NPP (Ukraine)?

Abstract

A distinct external shell abnormality, coarse seam, was found in a high percentage of the pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis (L.) collected near Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), Ukraine. The negative cytogenetical and hematological effects of long-term irradiation on pond snails in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone have been repeatedly reported; consequently, it has been assumed that radioactivity may also affect shell morphology. However, due to the absence of this shell abnormality in pond snails collected from two radioactive sites in Russia, it can be concluded that the appearance of abnormal shells in snail population near Chernobyl NPP cannot directly be explained by the radioactive contamination.

Ordinary offspring of scalariform Cornu aspersum (O. F. Müller, 1774) partners

“…Scalariform or scalarimorph, in other words corkscrew-like shapes of snail shells used to be considered terratological forms, caused by a damage that disrupt this programme during early development of a juvenile. The injury caused by parasites may also be the cause of scalariformity (Oldham 1931), as well as ecological stress (Zuykov et al 2011, 2012, Clewing et al 2015. Even though scalariformity is usually interpreted as sporadic phenomena within a species regular morphological range (e.g.…”