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| NAS - Nonindigenous Aquatic Species |
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Common Name: banded mysterysnail
Synonyms and Other Names: mystery snail, banded apple snail, pond snail
Taxonomy: available through 
Identification: Viviparus georgianus has a relatively globose, dextral shell with 4–5 whorls separated by distinct sutures. The outer lip of the shell is quite thin (Jokinen 1992) and the overall coloration is yellow-green. There are abundant rows of hairs with distinctly hooked ends and ridges on the periostracum. The umbilicus is narrow or not apparent, and the operculum is round to oval with concentric circular markings that radiate from an off-centre origin located towards the top left. There are always 4 darkly pigmented bands that wrap around the shell spirally, but which are sometimes only visible from inside (Macki et al. 1980; Jokinen 1984; Jokinen 1992).
Size: One-year old snails are 12–17 mm high; at 2 years, 17–21 mm high; and at 3 years, 21–30 mm high (Lee et al. 2002). The maximum height is 45 mm (Jokinen 1992).
Native Range:
The banded mystery snail is native to North America, generally found from the northeastern United States to Florida and the Gulf of Mexico (Jokinen 1992) primarily south central Florida, Georgia, Alabama and north, mainly in the Mississippi River system, to Illinois and northwestern Indiana (Burch and Tottenham, 1980). Massachusetts, Indiana and Connecticut are probably some of the states marking the northern limit of this species’ native range (Jokinen and Pondick 1981; Mills et al. 1993).
The recent study that found that V. georgianus is a species complex in North America found that V. limi is native to the Ochlockonee River and southwestern Georgia, while V. goodrichi is in the Florida panhandle and southwestern Georgia and V. georgianus is in eastern and southern Florida as well as the Altamaha River in Georgia (Katoh and Foltz 1994). Other populations in the Altamaha, Mississippi and St. Lawrence River basins have not been studied yet with respect to their specific genetic make-up and so are named as part of the V. georgianus species complex (Katoh and Foltz 1994).
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Interactive maps: Continental US, Alaska, Hawaii, Caribbean
Nonindigenous Occurrences:
It has invaded Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, New England and Quebec (Burch and Tottenham, 1980).
Mid-Atlantic Region: Niagara River, Erie Canal, Hudson River drainage in New York and possibly Lake Champlain. Established in the Chesapeake Bay, Maryland (Ruiz 2000).
Great Lakes Region: The first record of this introduced species in the Great Lakes basin is from the Hudson River drainage, connected to the Erie Canal and Mohawk River, in 1867. It was later reported from the Lake Michigan watershed by 1906 and Lake Erie by 1914. Other records are from 1931 near Buffalo, Lake Erie and the Niagara River (Mills et al. 1993). The New York State Museum has records from the 1950s and 1960s from 11 counties (Jokinen 1992). Mackie et al. (1980) list this species as recorded from Lake Huron but do not give date of establishment or any references.
Ecology:
Found in lakes and slow-moving rivers with mud bottoms. This species thrives in eutrophic lentic environments such as lakes, ponds and some low-flow streams (Lee et al. 2002). It is usually absent from larger, faster flowing rivers (Katoh and Foltz 1994); however, it is able to survive conditions of high water velocity in the St. Lawrence River, and may even be better adapted than the introduced Bithynia tentaculata to such habitat (Vincent 1979). Individuals are generally found in a range of habitats, including: regions with silt and mud substrate; communities dominated by diatoms and filamentous algae (not blue-green algae); shallow waters with sand or gravel substrate; soft and hard water; waters with pH between 6.3 and 8.5; freshwater habitats only; river reaches more than meanders (Duch 1976; Jokinen 1992; Jokinen and Pondick 1981; Lee et al. 2002; Pace and Szuch 1985; Vincent 1979; Wade and Vasey 1976).
Viviparus georgianus breeds and lives in shallow waters, often amongst macrophytes, in spring to fall, then moves out to deeper areas in the fall in order to overwinter away from shore (Jokinen et al. 1982; Lee et al. 2002; Wade 1985a). In more open waters, fall migration begins earlier than in smaller lakes and ponds (Lee et al. 2002). Most growth generally occurs when waters become warmer in spring and summer, although reduced growth continues in winter (Browne 1978; Jokinen et al. 1982).
It is dioecious, iteroparous and ovoviviparous, laying eggs singly in albumen-filled capsules (Browne 1978; Lee et al. 2002; Rivest and Vanderpool 1986). Females generally brood eggs for 9–10 months (Jokinen et al. 1982; Rivest and Vanderpool 1986). Fecundity is generally between 4 and 81 young/female, but on average is closer to 11 young/female (Jokinen 1992; Vail 1978). Females can brood more than one batch of young at a time and the number of young in one brood is positively related to the size of the female (Vail 1977). Reproductive females are usually larger than 16 mm (Buckley 1986). Female banded mystery snails live 28 – 48 and males live 18 – 36 months (Jokinen et al. 1982; Lee et al. 2002).
V. georgianus is known to be a facultative or even obligate filter-feeding detritivore and thus can be used as a bioindicator of sediment contamination by oil and fertilizer, because growth, survival and histology are significantly affected by ingestion of contaminated sediments (Browne 1978; Lee et al. 2002). This species grazes on diatom clusters found on silt and mud substrates, but may require the ingestion of some grit to break down algae (Duch 1976).
The banded mystery snail often lives at high densities, sometimes up to around 864/m2 (Lee et al. 2002; Pace and Szuch 1985).
It is host to many parasites in its native habitat, including cercaria, metacercaria, ciliated protozoans, annelids, and chironomid larvae (Wade 1985b).
Means of Introduction: The earliest introduction of this species to the Hudson River drainage was made by an amateur conchologist who purposefully released around 200 of these snails simultaneously into the river (Jokinen 1992; Mills et al. 1993). The snail probably dispersed by itself following this event, but more recent introductions were likely made via release from aquaria (Mills et al. 1993).
Status: This species is considered established in the drainage systems of Lakes Michigan, Erie and Ontario (Mills et al. 1993).
Impact of Introduction:
A) Realized: At present there are no known impacts associated with this introduced species in the Great Lakes basin.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that mallard ducks are adapting to foraging on this species in Lake George, New York.
B) Potential: Viviparus georgianus has been shown to significantly reduce survival of largemouth bass eggs in guarded nests both in the laboratory and in ponds, and may contribute to high incubation mortality seen in natural field settings (Eckblad and Shealy 1972). This species may prey on fish embryos.
Remarks:
This species very similar to the European Viviparus viviparous.
This species is considered rare in the states of
A recent study that found that V. georgianus in its native range in the
References
Browne, R. A. 1978. Growth, mortality, fecundity, biomass and productivity of four lake populations of the prosobranch snail, Viviparus georgianus. Ecology 59(4):742-750.
Buckley, D. E. 1986. Bioenergetics of age-related vs. size-related reproductive tactics in female Viviparus georgianus. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 27(4):293-310.
Burch, J. B. and J. L. Tottenham. 1980. Species list, ranges and illistrations. Pages 82-215. In North American freshwater snails. The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Duch, T. M. 1976. Aspects of the feeding habits of Viviparus georgianus. The Nautilus 90(1):7-10.
Eckblad, J. W. and M. H. Shealy, Jr. 1972. Predation on largemouth bass embryos by the pond snail. Trans. Am. Fish. Soc. 101: 734-738.
Jokinen, E. H. 1984. Periostracal morphology of viviparid snail shells. Transactions of the American Microscopical Society 103(4):312-316.
Jokinen, E. 1992. The Freshwater Snails (Mollusca: Gastropoda) of New York State. The University of the State of New York, The State Education Department, The New York State Museum, Albany, New York 12230. 112 pp.
Jokinen, E. H. and J. Pondick. 1981. Rare and endangered species: freshwater gastropods of southern New England. The Bulletin of the American Malacological Union, Inc. 50:52-53.
Jokinen, E. H., J. Guerette and R. W. Kortmann. 1982. The natural history of an ovoviviparous snail Viviparus georgianus in a soft water eutrophic lake. Freshwater Invertebrate Biology 1(4):2-17.
Katoh, M. and D. W. Foltz. 1994. Genetic subdivision and morphological variation in a freshwater snail species complex formerly referred to as Viviparus georgianus (Lea). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 53(1):73-90.
Lee, L. E. J., J. Stassen, A. McDonald, C. Culshaw, A. D. Venosa and K. Lee. 2002. Bioremediation Journal 6(4):373-386.
Mackie, G. L., D. S. White and T. W. Zdeba. 1980. A guide to freshwater mollusks of the Laurentian Great Lakes with special emphasis on the genus Pisidium. Environmental Research Laboratory, Office of Research and Development, U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, Duluth, Minnesota 55804. 144 pp.
Mills, E. L., J. H. Leach, J. T. Carlton and C. L. Secor. 1993. Exotic species in the Great Lakes: a history of biotic crises and anthropogenic introductions. Journal of Great Lakes Research 19(1):1-54.
Pace, G. L. and E. J. Szuch. 1985. An exceptional stream population of the banded apple snail Viviparus georgianus in Michigan, USA. Nautilus 99(2-3):48-53.
Rivest, B. R. and R. Vanderpool. 1986. Variation in capsule albumen in the freshwater snail Viviparus georgianus. American Zoologist 26(4):41A.
Vail, V. A. 1977. Observations on brood production in three viviparid gastropods. Bulletin of the American Malacological Union, Inc. 43:90.
Vail. V. A. 1978. Seasonal reproductive patterns in 3 viviparid gastropods. Malacologia 17(1):7-98.
Vincent, B. 1979. Étude du benthos d’eau douce dans le haut-estuaire du Saint-Laurent (Québec). Canadian Journal of Zoology 57(11):1271-2182.
Wade, J. Q. 1985a. Studies of the gastropods of Conesus Lake, Livingston County, New York, USA II. Identification, occurrence and ecology of species. Proceedings of the Rochester Academy of Science 15(3):206-212.
Wade, J. Q. 1985b. Studies of the gastropods of Conesus Lake, Livingston County, New York, USA III. Endozoic and parasitic organisms obtained from gastropods. Proceedings of the Rochester Academy of Science 15(3):213-215.
Wade, J. Q. and C. E. Vasey. 1976. A study of the gastropods of Conesus Lake, Livingston County, New York. Proceedings of the Rochester Academy of Science 13(1):17-22.
Other Resources:
GLIFWC-Maps
Great Lakes Water Life
WI DNR - Banded Mystery Snail presence by county
Author: Rebekah M. Kipp & Amy Benson
Contributing Agencies: 
NOAA - GLERL
Revision Date: 2/26/2007 Citation for this information:
Rebekah M. Kipp & Amy Benson. 2010. Viviparus georgianus. USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database, Gainesville, FL.
<http://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/FactSheet.asp?speciesID=1047> Revision Date: 2/26/2007
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