Officials sound alarm on invasive Asian 'mystery snails' found in Georgia that could be disaster for US economy

Georgia wildlife officials have asked the public for help eradicating a colony of invasive 'mystery snails,' which harbor dangerous parasites and damage property.

Known as both the 'Chinese' and the 'Japanese mystery snail,' or by its Latin genus Cipangopaludina, the creature was first discovered in the United States at a San Francisco-area seafood market in 1892, invasive species experts say.

Many states have made it illegal to release the snails into the wild, while still allowing them to be kept legally in aquariums. But Georgia has adopted stricter rules.

'Recent regulatory changes prohibit individuals from possessing live mystery snails within the state of Georgia,' as Georgia's Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Resources Division (WRD) reiterated on Tuesday, 'regardless of their intended use.'

One key concern is that the slimy creatures are known to transmit human intestinal flukes and can also carry the same trematode parasites found in native mussels.

But the mystery snail can also wreak havoc on private property, 'damaging vessels and other boating equipment' as Georgia's WRD noted, as well as potentially clogging up water-intake pipes of almost any size. 

And, as other state officials have pointed out, the economic damage does not stop with man-made structures. 

'Mystery snails can die-off in large numbers, fouling beaches and shoreland,' according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

The creature's ecological impacts too can reverberate onto the bottom line of local fisheries, as the mystery snails' spread crowds out key species in the food chain.

WRD said the invasive snail was discovered during a routine sampling of Lake Lanier. 

'While we initially hoped that this was an individual specimen found on Lanier,' WRD's Aquatic Nuisance Species Coordinator Jim Page said in a statement, 'further investigation indicated that this is a viable, reproducing population of snails.' 

Page and his colleagues issued some concrete advice to Georgia's local 'anglers and boaters' asking them to help the state 'prevent further spread' of the mystery snail. 

'Prevention continues to be our best tool in fighting the war on invasive species, and prevention is only achieved with the help of the public,' according to Page. 

'Whether it's taking time to thoroughly wash down your boat, trailer, and fishing gear after each outing,' Page said, 'or simply not intentionally releasing non-native species into waterbodies where they did not previously occur ... Let's protect our waters!'

The wildlife experts advised that the mystery snail can be identified by their large size, as they grow up to 1.5 to 3 inches from the top to the lip of their shells.

Each shell has 6-7 whorls or spirals and is a uniform olive green to greenish-brown or sometimes a reddish-brown.

A young Chinese mystery snail, experts said, can be as tiny as a grain of rice. And both adults and juvenile snails can hide in mud or stick to anchors and ropes as well as hunting, fishing and scuba gear.

The mystery snail can reduce the numbers of beloved local fauna, like otters, muskrats, ducks, geese and fish, because it not only crowds-out native gastropods and mollusks — but it is also harder to kill as prey.

The mystery snail is one of a number of species whose shell comes with a trapdoor, which helps to seal it off from hungry predators. 

Because of the snails' ravenous feeding habits, it tends to alter the chemical and nutrient cycle of water habitats with the large volume of fecal matter it produces.  

The resulting increase in nitrogen and phosphorous cycling can lead to disruptive changes in the size of bacteria, algae and zooplankton communities, according to the nonprofit Invasive Species Centre in Ontario, Canada.

For Georgia residents or visitors looking for more information on invasive species and how to report sightings, WRD recommends going to GeorgiaWildlife.com/ans.