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Vol. 49 No. 1, 2010
A High Incidence of Imposex in Pomacea Apple Snails in Taiwan: A
Decade after Triphenyltin Was Banned
Jing-Ying
Wu1, Pei-Jie Meng2,3, Ming-Yie Liu4, Yuh-Wen Chiu5, and Li-Lian Liu1,*
1Institute
of Marine Biology and Asia-Pacific Ocean Research Center - Kuroshio
Research Group, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung 804, Taiwan
2National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium,
Pingtung 944, Taiwan
3Institute of Marine Biodiversity and Evolution,
National Dong Hwa University, Pingtung 944, Taiwan
4Department of Environmental and Occupational Health,
Medical College, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 704, Taiwan
5Faculty of Biomedical Science and Environmental
Biology, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan
Jing-Ying
Wu, Pei-Jie Meng, Ming-Yie Liu, Yuh-Wen Chiu, and Li-Lian Liu (2010) The South American apple snails Pomacea
canaliculata and P. scalaris were intentionally introduced into Taiwan
in the 1980s. Subsequently, P. canaliculata has become a serious
pest to aquatic crops, and triphenyltin (TPT) was the major control
agent. We conducted a nationwide survey on the imposex status of
P. canaliculata and P. scalaris to evaluate the effectiveness of the
ban on TPT use in agriculture since 1999. Pomacea canaliculata
was distributed island-wide, but P. scalaris was only distributed in
southern Taiwan, sympatrically with P. canaliculata. The imposex
condition was found in snails from all collecting sites of the 2
species. Based on vas deferens sequence (VDS) indices, P.
scalaris and P. canaliculata have the same susceptibility.
Additionally, imposex-affected individuals of P. canaliculata were
found in all types of freshwater habitats, i.e., crop drainage,
reservoirs, and wastewater drainage, with respective VDS indices
ranging 1.02-1.40, 0.75-2.00, and 1.00-1.88. Based on these
survey results, the illegal use of TPT in agriculture has likely
continued, and extra control actions are urgently needed.
Key words: Pomacea
canaliculata, Pomacea scalaris,
Imposex, VDS, TPT.
*Correspondence: Tel: 886-7-5252000 ext. 5108. Fax:
886-7-5255100. E-mail:lilian@mail.nsysu.edu.tw
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