BioOne.org will be down briefly for maintenance on 17 December 2024 between 18:00-22:00 Pacific Time US. We apologize for any inconvenience.
How to translate text using browser tools
1 September 2010 Comparison of the Life Cycle and Photoperiodic Response between Northern and Southern Populations of the Terrestrial Slug Lehmannia valentiana in Japan
Hiroko Udaka, Hideharu Numata
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

The terrestrial slug Lehmannia valentiana was first recorded in Japan in the late 1950s and is now distributed throughout the country. Previous studies have revealed that in Osaka, southwestern Japan, L. valentiana reproduces from November to April. In the present study, in order to clarify the climatic adaptations of L. valentiana in Japan, we examined the life cycle of this slug in Sapporo, northern Japan. In the Sapporo population, the ratio of gonad weight to body weight reached a maximum in September. Most slugs had mature sperm from late August to April and large oocytes from September to April. Thus, the Sapporo population of L. valentiana commenced reproduction two months earlier than the Osaka population. We also examined the effect of various photoperiodic conditions on growth and reproductive maturation in both the Osaka and Sapporo populations. The effect of photoperiod on growth was different in the two populations. In both populations, however, reproductive maturation was induced by short days of photophase 14 h or less, and there was no obvious difference between the two populations, even though reproductive maturation in the wild commences in different seasons. This indicates the possibility that L. valentiana adapts to climatically different regions without changes in its critical daylength in photoperiodic response.

© 2010 Zoological Society of Japan
Hiroko Udaka and Hideharu Numata "Comparison of the Life Cycle and Photoperiodic Response between Northern and Southern Populations of the Terrestrial Slug Lehmannia valentiana in Japan," Zoological Science 27(9), 735-739, (1 September 2010). https://doi.org/10.2108/zsj.27.735
Received: 7 September 2009; Accepted: 1 April 2010; Published: 1 September 2010
KEYWORDS
critical daylength
oogenesis
photoperiodic response
spermatogenesis
terrestrial mollusk
RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS
Get copyright permission
Back to Top