Tardigrades, sometimes called water bears, are incredibly tough, but they are so small that they can’t travel very far – unless they hitch a ride on a larger animal.
The pair used lab studies to test whether snails might transport tardigrades. In one box, they placed a number of tardigrades belonging to the speciesby themselves. In a second container, there were tardigrades plus a species of snail that occurs in their natural habitat, while in a third box there were tardigrades, snails and moss, where tardigrades often reside in nature.
After three days, the researchers counted how many tardigrades remained in their original location and how many had moved, and whether they were alive or dead. They found that living tardigrades only left their starting location in the boxes where snails were present without moss. They speculate that this might be because tardigrades are picked up passively by passing snails, and that this process is more unlikely if the tardigrades are embedded in moss.
The researchers found that the tardigrades in moss didn’t travel any more than the control group, suggesting that the effect only happens in certain natural scenarios. They also found that some of the tardigrades died from contact with the snail’s mucus. But tardigrades’ ability to reproduce asexually means only one needs to survive the journey to establish a population in a new area. This means snail travel could still be a viable means for tardigrades to populate novel habitats.
While the study demonstrates that snail-based transport is possible for some tardigrades, the researchers still don’t know whether the tardigrades are transported this way in nature – or how often. One variable is that the damp habitats tardigrades and snails need for survival may change with time. “It depends on the weather conditions. In wet years, tardigrades may be transferred by snails more often than in dry years,“ says Książkiewicz.at the British Antarctic Survey.
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