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Small Size Gastropod Fauna from the Matli Geothermal Spring, Bhagirathi Valley, Garhwal Himalaya, Uttarakhand: Ecological Implications

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Journal of the Geological Society of India

Abstract

The occurrence of freshwater molluscs in the geothermal springs is reported by numerous workers in different parts of the world. However, reports of such occurrences in the Indian subcontinent are either scanty or are not available in the published literature. In this study, a swarm of small size gastropod community have been encountered in the vicinity of Matli geothermal spring, which is located on the right bank of the downstream Bhagirathi river in the Garhwal Himalaya in Uttarakhand, India. Gastropod samples were collected from 3 locations near the spring and water samples were collected from the spring and the river. The samples were identified as belonging to the species Lymnaea acuminata Lamarck, 1822 according to their form and habitat. The abundance, size and thickness of the snails were higher near the spring than near the Bhagirathi river. The δ18Oshell and δ13Cshell values of all the bulk samples range from − 8.2 to − 7.8‰ (VPDB) and from − 9.5‰ (VPDB) to − 6.5‰ (VPDB), respectively. Since the temperature of the geothermal spring remains constant irrespective of seasons, no significant intra-shell variation in δ18Oshell is observed, while intra—shell δ13Cshell values show significant variation reflecting season change. Lymnaea accuminata is originally a freshwater gastropod which is found all along the Ganga-Brahmaputra watersheds. This species prefers a habitat near the geothermal spring owing to the abundance of nutrients in spring water and other physiological factors.

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Acknowledgements

Authors thank the Department of Geology and Geophysics, IIT Kharagpur. and Director, Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehradun for providing all the necessary facilities for sample washing and preparation for isotopic analysis and other laboratory facilities. NC thanks the IIT Kharagpur for the research fellowship. AKG thanks the DST, Government of India, New Delhi for Sir J.C. Bose Fellowship (No.SR/S2/JCB-80/2011). ST thanks the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology for financial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geology and Geophysics, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Kharagpur, 721 302, India

    Nikitasha Chatterjee, Anil K. Gupta & Kanishak Sharma

  2. Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, 33, GMS Road, Dehradun, 248 001, India

    Nikitasha Chatterjee & Sameer K. Tiwari

  3. Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences Brown University, Providence, USA

    Steven C. Clemens

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  1. Nikitasha Chatterjee
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  2. Anil K. Gupta
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  3. Sameer K. Tiwari
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Correspondence to Anil K. Gupta.

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Chatterjee, N., Gupta, A.K., Tiwari, S.K. et al. Small Size Gastropod Fauna from the Matli Geothermal Spring, Bhagirathi Valley, Garhwal Himalaya, Uttarakhand: Ecological Implications. J Geol Soc India 98, 47–52 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12594-022-1926-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12594-022-1926-0

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