Does self fertilization have genetic problems?
Most freshwater snails can self-fertilize for two or three generations without difficulty in genetic factors. Pulmonate snails will use cross-fertilized sperm in reproduction in preference to sperm from the same individual. This ability of self-fertilization is a very significant feature, because it enables the snail to establish a new colony by means of a single individual. This is only possible if the individual can hold out for a fairly long time at its new location. In every possible situation it will use cross-fertilization to maintain genetic diversity.
