6 replies to this topic

[Fleendar the Magnificent]

We seem to have an abundance of these at a local reservoir and I find the shells all over the place when the lake is down. Must be a smorgasbord for the trash pandas. I have been wanting one of these big guys for awhile now and this is the first one I have found from the Olentangy River. This specific snail is about or a bit bigger than a Ping-Pong ball and it eats just about anything.

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[Michmass]

That's a cool looking critter and scary big. Congrats.

[Fleendar the Magnificent]

Thanks Mich,

 

I have seen them a bit bigger, but the empty shells only. The lake about 15 miles from here is filled with them. Not sure what species, but they get BIG.

 

Chris M.

[Matt DeLaVega]

Viviparis malleatus. Chinese mystery snail. Japanese trapdoor snail.

 

They are livebearers. They were brought to the US and sold in Asian markets.

 

These guys won't overpopulate a tank. The ones I have kept only birthed maybe 20 young in a year, and the offspring are large enough to cull out if you desire.

[Fleendar the Magnificent]

@Matt,

Thank you for the information on them. I had one once before about 13 years ago I had caught in that lake. After putting it in my tank, it ate flake food and within 2 weeks there were like 6 fully formed babies. Did a little reading on them and it seems that they're sensitive to water conditions and close up when water becomes poor well before fish are affected. Interesting to know about them.

 

Thanks again.

 

Chris

[gerald]

They are HIGHLY invasive, despite what pondplantsonline says: https://www.pondplan...=19493940658269

https://nas.er.usgs....?SpeciesID=1046

[Fleendar the Magnificent]

Once I found out what they are, I figured, like the Asian clam, that they're an invasive. Not much anyone can do about them now. They're everywhere in the local lakes here. When the lakes go down during the summer, the inlets are littered with their shells. Since places like pond plant and others across the country sells them by the hundreds, guess we will never eradicate them either.