Abstract:

【OBJECTIVE】In order to study the behavior of body-turning in Cathaica fasciola, the effects of snail body weight, environmental temperature, illumination intensity, feeding and starvation on the duration of body-turning were studied. 【METHOD】After the snails were put upside down, the durations for the snails to resume the original posture were recorded with a stopwatch, and the effects of different factors on the duration of body-turning were compared.【RESULTS】The body-turning time increased with the snail body weight, the illumination intensity and starvation time, but decreased with the environmental temperature and the feeding time. The snail body weight correlated highly positively with the duration of body-turning (P<0.0001). The body-turning durations of three groups(group I、III、V) under 30-40℃ and feed for 48h were highly significantly shorter than those under 10℃ and feed for 12h, respectively (P<0.01). The body-turning durations of three groups under the lowest illumination intensity (37.8LX) from electric incandescent lamp were highly significantly longer than those under the highest illumination intensity (4310LX) (P<0.01). Under the same illumination intensity, the illumination from daylight lamp and electric incandescent lamp had some different effects on the body-turning durations. After being starved for 72h, the body-turning durations were highly significantly longer than those for 12h. 【CONCLUSION】The durations of Cathaica fasciola to resume the original posture after being put upside down were affected by many factors. Besides the snail’s body weight, other exoteric factors such as environmental temperature, illumination intensity, feeding and starvation also affected the body-turning durations.