The Yacyretá Binational Entity (EBY) released 1,200 specimens of a species of snail that was at risk of extinction in the Corrientes town of Ituzaingó and that could be saved through a conservation mechanism shared with the University of Misiones, the Museum of Natural Sciences and the Association Argentine Chemistry.
The state company, which operates the hydroelectric plant on the Paraná river near Ituzaingó, released in that area of the province of Corrientes 1,200 individuals of the Aylacostoma snailwhich in the 1990s was determined to be at risk of extinction.
This was reported on Monday by EBY, which explained that these snails mainly inhabited the area of the Apipé rapids“and, based on initial investigations carried out prior to the filling of the dam reservoir, by Manuel Quintana, from the Bernardino Rivadavia Museum, at the beginning of the 90s it was determined that they were at risk of extinction.”
“For this reason, extensive work was begun to collect specimens in the area, from the Apipé rapids to San Ignacio,” they added.
These snails, collected by dragging and autonomous diving, were taken to the Argentine Museum of Natural Sciences, where a system of aquariums was set up as repositories, adapted in such a way as to reproduce the minimum environmental conditions of the river before the reservoir was filled. “Also a significant number of specimens were released downstream of the damin the area of the navigation lock”, indicated the company.
It is a snail release point located two thousand meters downstream from the dam that was inspected in October 2019, when it was discovered that the specimens were dispersed in three other sites in Ituzaingó, such as the lateral channel located on the coast of the Mbaracayá reserve; upstream of the Guapurundú stream and about 200 meters upstream of Punta Ñaró.
The place upstream of the Guapurundu stream It is the place selected as appropriate to receive the snails from the repository of the Argentine Museum of Natural Sciences”, informed Yacyretá.
According to what was explained, in 2010 maneuvers had been carried out to reintroduce this species in those sectors.
That is where in the last few hours both Yacyretá and the Argentine Chemical Association (AQA), the Bernardino Rivadavia Argentine Museum of Natural Sciences and the Faculty of Exact Chemical and Natural Sciences of the National University of Misiones (UNaM) carried out the return to their environment of the Aylacostoma snails.
The company highlighted, through a statement, that “the consolidation of these actions has allowed the rescue and conservation of the Aylacostoma snail ex situ, that is, outside the habitat of this subtropical water snail, which is giving positive results thanks to the work of the specialists of the institutions involved and that leads 30 years of research aiming at the conservation and reproduction in captivity of the collected specimens”.
Aylacostoma snails ??! We released more than 1,200 in the Ituzaingó area, Corrientes, thanks to the joint work we carried out with the Argentine Chemical Association, the “Bernardino” Rivadavia Argentine Museum of Natural Sciences, and the National University of Misiones. pic.twitter.com/QpYXGXR0FE
– Yacyreta Argentina (@YacyretaAr) August 8, 2022
