Missouri Department of Conservation staff have confirmed the presence of the invasive Chinese mystery snail in Lake Minesa in Marshall, according to a news release.
After receiving a report from a concerned citizen about the presence of the prohibited snail, MDC staff found over 150 specimens during a short search of the area. They collected and removed the specimens, but the news release said further removal efforts are limited based on the hardiness of the species.
The Chinese mystery snail, also called the Asian apple snail, is an invasive freshwater species. It has been found in at least 11 other Missouri counties, according to the Conservation Department.
“These snails, like other invasive species, are able to reproduce rapidly and outcompete our native species for important food and habitat resources,” MDC malacologist Stephen McMurray said in the news release. “Chinese mystery snail in particular can be a vector of diseases that can affect humans, so we don’t want them in our waterways.”
The Chinese mystery snail can live in lakes, ponds, rice fields, irrigation and roadside ditches, and calm portions of streams where there is a soft mud, according to the news release. They feed on algae and dead organic matter and other organic matter attached to vegetation. A female can give birth to 169 broods or more in a lifetime, and a single brood may have 100 young.
The snail is sometimes used as an aquarium species.
It is not yet clear how the species was introduced into Lake Minesa, but the Conservation Department said the public in the news release to never release aquarium species or aquarium water into natural aquatic habitats.
