So I want to my local pond to do some late-day kayaking with my youngest son. I have not been to the pond in a while, and when we pulled in I noticed a new sign at the public landing. The sign was about Chinese Mystery Snails and that they are now in the pond. I am sure you are thinking what I was thinking what kind of name is this do they do magic can they fly do they have a gaint question mark on their shell, I needed more information so to google I go.
What I found out is that the Chinese mystery snail, black snail, or trapdoor snail (Cipangopaludina chinensis) is a large freshwater snail they have gills and an operculum. The name “trapdoor snail” refers to the operculum, an oval corneous plate that most snails in this clade possess. When the soft parts of the snail are fully retracted, the operculum seals the aperture of the shell, providing some protection against drying out and predation.
Species of the genus Cipangopaludina can be identified by their relatively large globose shells and concentrically marked opercula. The shell is conical and thin but solid, with a sharp apex and relatively higher spire and distant body whorl. This species has a small and round umbilicus and the spire is produced at an angle of 65–80°.
Cipangopaludina chinensis exhibits light coloration as a juvenile and olive green, greenish-brown, brown, or reddish-brown pigmentation as an adult.
This species was sold in Chinese food markets in San Francisco in the late 1800s. It was collected as early as 1914 in Boston. It was probably released from an aquarium into the Niagara River between 1931 and 1942.
It has become a problematic invasive species in many areas.
This snail is an introduced species in the United States. It is found in “any or all of the tributaries on Grand Island and on both sides of the Niagara River in the United States and Canada.”
Great Lakes Region: The first record of Cipangopaludina chinensis malleata in the Great Lakes dates from some time between 1931 and 1942 from the Niagara River, which flows into Lake Ontario. Cipangopaludina chinensis was found for the first time in Oneida Lake, which flows to Lake Ontario, in 1977-1978.
Feeding habits
This species is primarily an algae eater in an aquarium context. These snails are popular in freshwater aquariums because they do not eat fish eggs or plants, they do not overpopulate the aquarium, and they close up if there is a water problem, giving people an indication that something is wrong a few weeks before the fish die.
Life cycle
Females live up to 5 years, while males live up to 3, occasionally 4 years. Female fecundity is usually greater than 169 young in a lifetime, and may reach up to 102 for any given brood. All females generally contain embryos from May to August and young are born from June through October in eastern North America in shallow water, then females begin migrating to deeper water for the winter in the fall.
Parasites
Bellamya chinensis serves in its native habitat as a host and a vector to numerous parasites including: Echinocasmus elongatus , Echinocasmus redioduplicatus , Echinostoma cinetorchis to name a few.
Maine connection
Chinese mystery snails occur in a number of Maine waterbodies, but the full distribution of this snail in Maine is unknown. Chinese mystery snail may be transported, as adults or tiny juveniles, via bait buckets and water holding areas on boats.
To learn more check
Lake Stewards of Maine (LSM) currently manages a statewide database on reported sightings of C. chinensis malleatus. You can assist the effort to get a better handle on this invasive organism by reporting any sightings to LSM at 207-783-7733 or [email protected].
To see if Chinese mystery snails have been sighted on your lake, please check out the LSM’s new interactive map on the Lakes of Maine website. You can go to the Lakes of Maine site and click on the Chinese mystery snail sightings link in the ‘Recent Library Additions’ sidebar, or click here to be taken directly to the map.
