Applesnails in South Carolina... Flapples Too!!!!!

[rpilla001]

This is an exerpt of an email of an email from my snail buddy up in Jax.


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In May we reported (1) the discovery of a population of South American apple snails (Pomacea canaliculata or insularum, see note 2) in a residential subdivision near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, extending the range of that invasive pest about 500 km north. This month we update our report with both good news and bad. We also report another surprise addition to the fauna of South Carolina, the native Florida apple snail (Pomacea paludosa), not typically considered to be an invasive species.


The bad news is that our Pomacea canaliculata/insularum introduction in the Myrtle Beach area has turned out to be much more extensive and long standing than we originally reported, with several additional populations discovered in residential areas during the months of June and July, as well as on a golf course. As of 8/1/08, biologists from the SC Department of Natural Resources had found evidence of infestation in 35 ponds and water bodies (3). The good news is that the DNR has moved promptly and efficiently to eradicate the snails, and we are fairly confident of success.

Media attention seems to have played an important role in mobilizing public sentiment. In late June, an invasion by "harmful snails" or "worrisome snails" was the subject of several television news stories and reports in the Myrtle Beach Sun News (4), and at least one article in The State newspaper in Columbia (5). Reports specifically mentioned a threat of meningitis, and included quotes like, "There's thousands. They're all over," and "I was scared for the kids." Notice the heavy rubber glove on the hand holding the snails in The Sun News photograph at Note (6). This seems to have prompted the general citizenry of the Myrtle Beach area to inspect all the local ponds and ditches, and to contact the DNR with requests for eradication. Our colleagues at the South Carolina Aquatic Nuisance Species Program (7) have responded with an aggressive program of copper sulfate application, and we do hope that the problem is coming under control.


Pomacea paludosa in South Carolina?

Yes, it's true! Earlier this week our DNR colleague David Knott and I visited Spring Island (8), a private golf and country club community south of Beaufort, SC, at the invitation of Dr. Chris Marsh of the Spring Island Trust. We confirmed small but apparently well-established populations of the native Florida apple snail, P. paludosa, in two golf course ponds. There's a photo of David bravely bare-handing a sample at Note (9) below. The photo at Note (10) shows that the egg masses of P. paludosa are much whiter (and the individual eggs much larger) than those produced by the South American species introduced near Myrtle Beach (11).

Pomacea paludosa is primarily an inhabitant of the Florida Everglades, ranging as far north as springs by the Flint and Ocmulgee Rivers in south Georgia (12). It has never been considered "invasive." In fact, populations of P. paludosa seem to have been declining for years, as water flows have been disturbed, wetlands drained for development, and genuinely invasive species (such as P. canaliculata/insularum) spread through Florida. But Chris thinks it most likely that the Spring Island population of P. paludosa was introduced on aquatic vegetation when the golf course was constructed in the early 1990s. This does call into question the meaning of the word, "invasive," doesn't it?


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Notes, Figures, and References:

(1) Pomacea spreads to South Carolina:
http://www.cofc.edu/~fwgna/archive/15May08.html

(2) Pomacea canaliculata:
http://www.cofc.edu/~fwgna/species/ampu ... ulata.html

(3) A PDF map of Pomacea distribution in the Myrtle Beach area has been produced by the SCDNR:
http://www.cofc.edu/~fwgna/downloads/snailmap.pdf

(4) "Worrisome Snail Spreading to Two More Horry Subdivisions" Myrtle Beach Sun News, 3July08:
http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/874/story/499588.html
If the direct link to the newspaper site above doesn't work, a copy of the article is available from the FWGNA:
http://www.cofc.edu/~fwgna/downloads/Th ... uly08.html

(5) "Harmful Snails Invade South Carolina" The State (Columbia) 22June08:
http://www.thestate.com/154/story/440517.html
If the direct link to the newspaper site above doesn't work, a copy of the article is available from the FWGNA:
http://www.cofc.edu/~fwgna/downloads/Th ... uly08.html

(6) Apple snail photo from The Sun News:
http://www.cofc.edu/~fwgna/images/Pcana ... unnews.jpg

(7) SCDNR Aquatic Nuisance Species Program:
http://www.dnr.sc.gov/invasiveweeds/snail.html

(8) Spring Island, SC:
http://www.springisland.com/Club/Scripts/Home/home.asp

(9) Pomacea paludosa from Spring Island:
http://www.cofc.edu/~fwgna/images/Ppaludosa-SpId.jpg

(10) P. paludosa eggs from Spring Island:
http://www.cofc.edu/~fwgna/images/Ppalu ... s-SpId.jpg

(11) There are several nice illustrations of P. canaliculata/insularum eggs on the PDF flier produced by the SCDNR:
http://www.cofc.edu/~fwgna/downloads/ap ... lflyer.pdf

(12) Thompson, F. G. (1999) An Identification Manual for The Freshwater Snails of Florida. Walkerana 10(23): 1 - 96.
Online version (2004):
http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/natsci/malacol ... nails1.htm





*****************************************************
Dr. Robert T. Dillon, Jr.
Department of Biology, College of Charleston
Charleston, SC 29424
VOICE (843) 953-8087 FAX (843) 953-5453
EMAIL <DillonR@cofc.edu>
http://www.cofc.edu/~dillonr/home.htm

[rpilla001]

Hello people!! wake up Flapples in South Carolina!!!!

[Annie Anderson]

It's good news, isn't it? Flapples are native snails so it's good that the invasive snails aren't wiping them out. They're even traveling farther north! I hope they can adapt and be able to take cold winters so I can have some up her in Taxachusetts--I mean Massachusetts

Are the Flapples considered invasive in South Carolina? Are there native snails there that the Flapples are interfering with?

[rpilla001]

Hard to tell. This is all new and suprisng news. most likely this is an isolates case. The gentleman who wrote the article knows the difference between an Insularum and a Pomacea. Both eat plants but the Pomacea is more selective and less destructive.

On a side note I saw my large insularum female today sucking down lemon Bacopa like it was spagetti noodles. She is such a pig! She ate two cucumber slices today and then went to work on the plants!

[Crimson]

Canas, Canas everywhere and not a single one for me...
T__T

[Annie Anderson]

Awww, poor Crimson, I think you need to take a vaction to southern Florida, don't you?