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The Oriental Mystery Mollusc (Cipangopaludina chinensis) P. M.
Eckel Missouri
Botanical Garden Res
Botanica August
3, 2004 |
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The
Oriental Mystery Mollusc (Cipangopaludina
chinensis) P.
M. Eckel July is one of the more spectacular months to view the
riparian habitats at Buckhorn Island State Park, which is especially
accessible near the wooden fishing platform provided by State Parks at Wood's
Creek. There is a parking area just off East River Road in the north end of
Grand Island, Erie County, New York State.
This area is just south of East River Road and the Wood's
Creek parking area. This is an inlet of Wood's Creek. The blue flowers of the Pickerel Weed (Pontederia cordata L.) are on display,
as is the modest green flower that hides on its arching stem under the leaves
of Green Water-arum (Peltandra
virginica (L.) Kunth). White water lilies (Nymphaea odorata Ait.) are just expanding out of their buds,
floating amid the great green circles of their leaves. This is just to
mention only three of the more conspicuous elements of all that is lovely to see
on the marsh in July. It was while crouching on the edge of Wood's Creek by the
canoe launching area on the south side of the East River Road, attempting to
photograph submerged plants (the Hornwort, Ceratophyllum demersum L., and Water weed, Anacharis canadensis (Michx.) Rich.), that I was startled to see
the muddy creek bottom covered with enormous snails.
Ghostly amid the Hornwort and below the floating discs of
the Greater Duckweek (Spirodela
polyrhiza (L.) Schleiden) looms the Mystery Snail. Who among us is not prepared to see invasive species in
our waterways, especially if they are of bizarre size and abundance? The
zebra mussel is endlessly cited and depicted in newspapers as well as other
exotic species unhappily overwhelming native plant populations and shoreline
structures throughout the Great Lakes. As Buckhorn Island is the focus of so much government
study at the present time, with the native molluscan flora of particular
interest throughout the Niagara River (all native mollusc species are of
interest to agencies with mandates to protect New York State's wildlife), I
thought it of interest to identify these creatures myself, although my
specialty lies with plants. The snails are so large and conspicuous, and so obviously
of alien origin, that it was decided that the Internet would provide a quick
synopsis of invasive molluscs in the Great Lakes region. It is doubtful that
these snails are not located elsewhere in the Great Lakes, or that I was the
first to discover them.
Cipangopaludina
chinensis It was quickly determined that these snails were fresh
water operculates. Perhaps the best of the articles on the Internet is that
of Mills, et al. (1993). After examining the pictures and descriptions of
various possibilities, it was determined that the great size of these
creatures (to 65 mm), as well as other more technical features, suggested
that these snails are Cipangopaludina
chinensis (Reeve 1863), the Oriental Mystery Snail. These creatures are
native to Burma, China, Japan, Java, Korea, the Philippines, South Vietnam,
Thailand, and "Asiatic Russia in the Amur region" (Pace 1973). The genus Viviparus has
species native to the United States. These species, and Cipangipaludina chinensis, enjoy the silt and mud of marshes and
creeks, they tolerate pollution and stagnation in water and "thrive in
aquatic environments that are too adverse for most other genera"
(Thompson 2004). Viviparus
georgianus, the Banded Mystery Snail, is similar to Cipangipaludina. It is a native of the
Mississippi River drainage. Both species are said to be initially released
from aquaria, but V. georgianus is
much smaller and the shells are strongly banded. What makes this find at Buckhorn even more interesting is
that it is known how the Oriental Mystery Snail became established in the
Great Lakes, and when and where. It was initially established at Cayuga Island on the north
shore of the Niagara River where it bends and flows east-west. This island
lies at the mouth of the Cayuga Creek in Niagara County. Mr. Eugene H.
Schmeck lived there in 1931. He had a breeding pair of Mystery Snails in his
aquarium, and he released them into the river. A "well established
population" was later found, by Mr. Schmeck, in 1942 (Mills et al.
1993). Schmeck wrote a paper on the subject (Clench, W. J. 1942. Viviparus
malleatus in the Niagara river. Nautilus 55(3): 102-103). Imogene
Robertson and Clifford Blakeslee, two malacologists at the Buffalo Museum of
Science, duly noted this occurrence (Robertson & Blakeslee 1949). The species is a source of food in Asia. It was first
reported imported into the United States in 1892, and sold in a Chinese
market in San Francisco (Wood 1892). Perhaps there is the possibility that
fisherpersons may wish to harvest these snails from the canoe launch area in
Wood's Creek and try them out in the kitchen - they are extremely abundant,
at least along the shore, and can be scooped out by hand. The apparent
foulness of the water in the Creek, however, indicates that this organism may
absorb unpleasant compounds in its flesh, and that human consumption is
ill-advised. Some toxicology studies of this species may be viewed on the
Web. The bad news is that this snail "can serve as a
vector for various parasites and diseases. Over its native range, the Chinese
Mystery Snail may serve as an intermediate host for Echinocasmus elongatus, E. redioduplicatus, E. rugosus, Eupariphium
ilocanum, E. recurvatum, Echinostoma macrorachis, and E. cinetorchis which can infect human
beings (Pace 1973)" (Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission 2003). The impact of the introduction of this snail is that it
may compete with native snails at Grand Island and elsewhere in the Niagara
River (Benson, 2004). NOTE: Earlier names of Cipangopaludina
chinensis (Reeve, 1863) published in the literature include Viviparus malleatus, Viviparus chinensis
malleatus, Viviparus japonicus, Viviparus stelmaphora, Paludina malleata,
Paludina japonicus, Cipangopaludina malleata (Gulf States Marine
Fisheries Commission. 2003). The species enjoys the slow-moving freshwater of Wood's
and Burntship Creeks with soft, muddy or silty bottoms, resembling the rice
paddies and irrigation ditches of Asia where the species is cultivated for
food. It occurs on sand to mud-sand substrates in large lentic and slow
moving lotic ecosystems. With lowered water levels in the Niagara River and
its tributaries, with increased deposition of fine-grained sediments, one
might imagine an expansion of populations of this large snail into areas of
increasingly sluggish waters. It should be very easy to spot this invasive
snail in any or all of the tributaries on Grand Island and on both sides of
the Niagara River in the United States and Canada. Benson,
Amy. 2004. Cipangopaludina chinensis
malleata. Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database, Gainesville, Florida.
Center for Aquatic Resource Studies. Biological Resources Division of the
Geological Survey (U.S. Dept. of the
Interior). http://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/SpFactSheet.asp?SpeciesID=1045 Gulf
States Marine Fisheries Commission. 2003. Fact Sheet for Cipangopaludina chinensis (Reeve, 1863). University of Southern
Mississippi/College of Marine Sciences/Gulf Coast Research Laboratory. http://nis.gsmfc.org/nis_factsheet.php?toc_id=125
August 2, 2004. Mills,
Edward L., Joseph H. Leach, James T. Carlton and Carol L. Secor. 1993. Exotic Species in the Great Lakes: A
History of Biotic Crises and Anthropogenic Introductions. Journal of Great
Lakes Research. 19(1):1-54.
International Association Great Lakes Research. Pace,
G. L. 1973. The freshwater snails of Taiwan (Formosa). Malacological Review Supplement 1. Pages 1-117. Robertson,
Imogene C. S. and Clifford L. Blakeslee. 1948. The Mollusca of the Niagara
Frontier Region. Bulletin of the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences. Vol.
19(3). Buffalo, New York. Thompson,
Fred G. 2004. An Identification Manual for the Freshwater Snails of
Florida. Florida Museum of Natural
history, University of Florida. http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/natsci/snails1.htm Wood,
W. M. 1892. Paludina japonica Mart.
for sale in the San Francisco Chinese markets. Nautilus 5:114-115.
Wood's Creek under a July
sky.
White Water-lily buds
just open.
Pickerel- Weed in July.
The snail's foot can be
seen as it glides on the silty creek edge.
What they look like out
of water.
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