There is real concern from wildlife agencies in Missouri and Arkansas (actually, in all states) over an itty-bitty New Zealand Mud Snail that has no good business in our waters. And you need to know about it - especially if you fished out west over the holidays or if you fish more than one river or lake anywhere.

Pictured in the photo are approximately 10 New Zealand Mud Snails on the tip of a fingernail. These diminutive mollusks are an invasive species having brown or black cone-shaped shells with 5 whorls. We don't want to see a single one anywhere around our home waters. Why? What's so bad about such a little creature? Don't we already have snails in our home waters? Read on and then become very vigilant — and clean your equipment meticulously.

YOU DON'T WANT TO BE THE ONE THAT TRANSPORTED THESE HITCHHIKERS!!

Photo by Paul Chinn / San Francisco Chronicle

The tiny (about 1/8 inch) New Zealand Mud Snail, a native to the Southern Hemisphere, is highly adaptable and can reproduce daily in tremendous numbers — they can cover a streambed in very little time, displacing all other invertebrates, upsetting the ecological balance and negatively impacting invertebrate-eating fish. Be worried.

It Only Takes One Snail

New Zealand Mud Snails are parthenogenic — which means all are female and reproduce asexually, essentially cloning themselves exponentially on a daily basis. One snail hitchhiking on items such as boots, waders, nets, boats, or dogs can start a colony in a stream or river reaching a mass as high as 700,000 snails per square meter. They have no known enemies on this continent. The snails are kept in check in their native New Zealand by several parasites and a few species of fish adapted to preying on them. If consumed by most North American fish, a mud snail can close its operculum (trapdoor-like flap) and pass unharmed through the fish's digestive tract, offering no nourishment to the fish.

AS SMALL AS THESE SNAILS ARE, ONE COULD EVEN HITCHHIKE ON YOUR FLY

USGS Photo	NPS Photo

The New Zealand Mud Snail can survive for several days out of water and withstand a variety of temperatures. This exotic invader is creating havoc in many rivers out west — such as in Idaho, California, Washington, Utah, Arizona, Wyoming and Montana. Recent reports put these villains in Kansas and Colorado as well. A Missouri trout biologist found some on his waders after fishing Colorado but fortunately, he knew what a serious threat these aliens are and prevented them from making a home in Missouri. Many organisms and pathogens can inadvertently be transported from state to state and even from stream to stream by anglers. Whenever any organism is taken out of its original environment and put into another, species that help keep it under control may not be present in the new environment, allowing the so-called exotic invaders to run amuck. Some environmental intruders that have become severe problems include, but are not limited to:

• other mollusks besides the New Zealand Mud Snail - like the Zebra Mussel and Asian Clam
• crustaceans - like the Rusty Crayfish, the Spiny Water Flea, and the Japanese Shore Crab
• plants - like Hydrilla, Water Hyacinth, and Purple Loosestrife
• even fish - like the Round Goby, the Sea Lamprey, the Common Carp, and the Ruffe
• pathogens - like Whirling Disease

The message is to never, ever, take any organism from one place and release it into another place. This goes for aquarium critters and plants. And don't think about dumping unwanted life forms in a storm drain or flushing them down the toilet — remember that everything eventually ends up in a water body. The same goes for any bait that you bought and did not use (and if a flyfisher, would never admit to buying in the first place). Never dump unused bait into the waters you are fishing. Instead, throw it into a trashcan or bury it far away from any water resource. Follow prevention procedures to thoroughly remove all water, plants, mud, sand, or dirt and ALWAYS clean ALL equipment (from waders to flies) between trips to different locations — even in the same state — even in the same county — even in the same river! A valuable online resource is at www.protectyourwaters.net for information about harmful aquatic hitchhikers and how to prevent their spread.

An Ounce of Prevention . . .

Procedures we must all follow EVERY TIME between each trip

Before leaving any water body (rivers, streams, lakes, ponds), leave potential harmful hitchhikers there rather than on you, your waders, boots, rods, nets, boats, trailers, dogs, etc.:

• Remove visible mud, sand, plants, organisms from ALL your possessions that came in contact with the water
• Eliminate all water from every conceivable item and every conceivable crevice
• Remember that some harmful organisms are so tiny that you may not see them. But they may be present and alive in the mud, sand, dirt, plant fragments, or water
• Remember that you never know where a harmful or nuisance species exists, but is as yet undiscovered ~ When you get home or back to the lodge, thoroughly clean and dry anything that came in contact with the water:
• Soak and scrub all items for at least 1 minute in a 2% solution of household bleach (1/3 cup bleach per gallon of water).
• Then, soak for at least 5 minutes in a 50% solution of Formula 409 household cleaner (kills 100% of mud snails).
• Follow up with a thorough rinse of clean water. Use hot water (104°-120° F) whenever possible to clean & rinse boots, waders, clothing, nets, boats, motors, trailers, etc
• Wash your dog with water as warm as possible, paying close attention to paws, and brush its coat well (remove collar first and clean separately)
• Allow gear to thoroughly dry (2-5 days) before entering new waters whenever possible ~ An added benefit to thorough cleaning will be to prolong the life of your equipment.

~ DO THESE THINGS ESPECIALLY BETWEEN
TRIPS TO DIFFERENT BODIES OF WATER ~

~ SPREAD THE WORD, NOT HARMFUL AQUATIC SPECIES ~