New Zealand mud snail
| New Zealand mud snail |
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| Scientific Classification |
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| Scientific Name |
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Potamopyrgus antipodarum |
The New Zealand mud snail is a very unique snail. It is small but the impact it has on the water system is huge. it will digest the algae that fish and other wildlife need.
The snail eats everything which is good and bad. The eat the organisms that we as humans do not want to eat. It also destroys our water systems. Without it we would have a more dangerous species on our hands.
Body Design
This snail has a recorded size of 4-6mm in length. It has a shell it uses for protection in case of an emergency. The shell has a cover that can move back and forth. Without this shell the snail wouldn't be able to survive for long.Live in freshwater environments. They are approximately the size of a babe's thumbnail .[2]
Life Cycle
The snail performs a live birth. One female can have up to 230 female babies. the New Zealand mud snail is ovoviviparous (producing eggs that are hatched inside the mothers body) and parthenogenic. They can reproduce asexually . Reproduce every third and fourth month.They sometimes clone themselves for reproduction. They have developing embryos when they are born. The females do not always needs male to reproduce [3]
Ecology
The New Zealand mud snail is not native to our country. It is said that it came here on boats came here and was able to adapt to our water system. It reds on the important algae. They take the animals and plants band compete with them so they win which means the fish would population would slowly decrease. This snail can stop the flow of carbon and nitrogen into a stream or a lake.
It feeds on dead animals and plants and also can digest sediments and algae. This snail lives in watersheds, streams, and lakes. it lives in the sand on the bottom of the lakes and streams. it can live in the U.S.A., Australia, along with Europe. They can not survive invert high or low climates
Impacts
There can be about 100,000 snails per square meter.They eat about a third of the food in a stream which leaves the animals who eat the same food go hungry and die out. Some places do not have them but when they will take over the water system. </ref>
Video
New Zealand Mudsnail PSA - English
References
- ↑ Potamopyrgus Wikispecies. Web. last modified on 9 August 2012.
- ↑ Nalepa, T. [http:www.MLive.com New Zealand mud snail] MLive. Web. December 26, 2016. November 20, 2016.
- ↑ R., Jacobsen, V.E. Forbes, and Matheny, Keith Invasive new Zealand Mudsnail Reaches Au Sable River Detroit Free Press. Web. December 18, 2016. June 10, 2016.
- ↑ Anderson M. [http:nas.er.usgs.gov New Zealand mud snail] USGS science for changing the world. Web.January 3,2017:
- ↑ Ponder, W.F. New Zealand mudsnail reaches Au Sable River "Detroit Free Press" Web. January 2,2017. June 10 2016.
