Influence of Physicochemical Parameters on Abundance, Distribution and Diversity of Freshwater Snails in Bakolori Reservoir

Abstract

Freshwater snails are part of the larger class of animals with shells known as mollusks. Freshwater, marine, and terrestrial snails make up the biggest group of mollusks, with well over 50,000 different species. The diversity, number, and distribution of freshwater snail species have been the subject of numerous study reports. This study was conducted over four months, from August to November, at three sample stations (I, II, and III) and in the Bakolori Reservoir. During the duration of the study, the sampling procedures were conducted every two weeks. Using the Shanon-Weiner and Simpson's similarity indices, the diversity of snail species was examined. Acathina fulica was the most abundant snail species, Pomacea bridgesii was the least abundant, P. bridgesii was the most diverse species, and Littorina littorea was the least diversified species, according to the study. The Pearson correlation was able to show that Total Dissolved Solid, pH, Dissolved Oxygen, and Biological Oxygen Demand had strong positive correlations and that TDS and Temperature had strong negative correlations. It also revealed that there was a strong positive correlation between pH, DO, and BOD, Total Solid and Littorina littorea, and Transparency had a strong positive correlation with Acathina fulica. TDS, temperature, BOD, and A. fulica were found to positively correlate using principal component analysis. Do was found to positively correlate with L. littorea, turbidity, conductivity, and Pomacea bridgesii, transparency and pH were positively correlated, and total suspended solids were positively correlated with neither.