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Grant support

This research has been conducted at the Vrije Universiteit of Amsterdam, supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion (PSI2011-25071) and by Gobierno del Principado de Asturias (BP-12045). JMK is funded by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) and the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW). We thank C. Popelier and O. Bellaoui for technical assistance with snail culturing and maintenance. BA is especially grateful to JMK and Lalo Diaz for making it possible.

Analysis of institutional authors

Alvarez, BCorresponding Author
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Article

Learning to anticipate mate presence shapes individual sex roles in the hermaphroditic pond snail, Lymnaea stagnalis

Publicated to:ANIMAL COGNITION. 25 (6): 1417-1425 - 2022-05-06 25(6), DOI: 10.1007/s10071-022-01623-7

Authors: Alvarez, Beatriz; Koene, Joris M.; Hollis, Karen L.; Loy, Ignacio;

Affiliations

Mt Holyoke Coll, South Hadley, VA USA - Author
Univ Oviedo, Dept Psicol, Oviedo 33003, Spain - Author
Vrije Univ, Fac Sci, Dept Ecol Sci, Amsterdam, Netherlands - Author

Abstract

Despite being simultaneously male and female, hermaphrodites may still need to assume the male or female sexual role in a mating encounter, with the option to swap roles afterwards. For the great pond snail, Lymnaea stagnalis, deciding which sexual role to perform has important consequences, since sperm transfer and male reproductive success can be decreased. We hypothesised that detecting cues that indicate a possible mating encounter could help them to adapt their mating behaviour. Therefore, we experimentally assessed whether signalling the presence of a conspecific with an odour can affect the sexual role of Lymnaea stagnalis. The results showed that learning resulted in either an increased ability to mate as a male or in faster mating compared to the control group. These findings reveal that learning shapes the mating dynamics of Lymnaea stagnalis, thus showing that cognitive processes not only affect mating in separate-sexed species but also in hermaphrodites.

Keywords
biological functionclassical conditioningconditioned matingmate choicemolluscpavlovian conditioningpulmonatesex role conflictsimultaneous hermaphroditeAgeBehaviorBiological functionClassical conditioningConditioned matingJapanese-quailMate choiceMolluscPavlovian conditioningPulmonateReceiptSex role conflictSimultaneous hermaphroditeSnail

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal ANIMAL COGNITION due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2022, it was in position 15/177, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Zoology. Notably, the journal is positioned above the 90th percentile.

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from the Field Citation Ratio (FCR) of the Dimensions source, it yields a value of: 1.18, which indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: Dimensions Apr 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2025-04-30, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 2
  • Scopus: 3
  • OpenCitations: 4
Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-04-30:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 5.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 5 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 2.35.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 4 (Altmetric).
Leadership analysis of institutional authors

This work has been carried out with international collaboration, specifically with researchers from: Netherlands; United States of America.

There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: First Author (ALVAREZ ALVAREZ, BEATRIZ) .

the author responsible for correspondence tasks has been ALVAREZ ALVAREZ, BEATRIZ.