Morphological diversification of alien and native aquatic snails of the genus Physa and Aplexa (Gastropoda: Physidae) of Western and Central European range.

This is the first comparative study on alien and native Physidae (Gastropoda: Heterobranchia) from Western and Central Europe. Morphology, ecological features and distribution are presented for each physid species. We analysed taxonomical features of physid snails from Europe in great detail.

Freshwater alien species Physella acuta (Draparnaud, 1805) - A possible model for bioaccumulation of heavy metals.

In this study we focused on Physella acuta, an alien snail species in order to determine their ability of bioaccumulation of heavy metals in their shells, bodies, the difference in accumulation in relation to age classes, and the influence of ecological variables on the community composition and density. On the basis of the results of ecological, toxicological, and experimental analyses we aimed to study the potential invasive features of P. acuta in comparision with the native species Stagnicola palustris.