Age-related changes in female reproductive activity and growth in the mollusc Lymnaea stagnalis

Age-related changes in reproduction and growth of the pulmonate snail Lymnaea stagnalis were studied in animals under standard culture conditions. Longitudinal studies as well as cross-sectional studies were done. Egg-laying activity starts in Lymnaea at an age of about 2 months. Up to an age of about 250 days it increases, and in older snails it decreases with age. Cross-sectional studies showed that the increase in egg-laying activity is due to an increase in the number of animals that lay eggs and to an increase in the egg-laying frequency of individuals. The decrease in egg-laying activity is due to a decrease in the egg-laying frequency of individual animals and to an increase in the number of animals that stop egg laying. Growth (shell length and body weight) ceases at about the same age at which egg laying begins to decrease. The results are discussed in relation to the organization of the neuroendocrine system in Lymnaea and to results of earlier studies on age-related changes in peptidergic neurons in the CNS of Lymnaea.