Poster Details
THE INVASIVE NEW ZEALAND MUD SNAIL: AN ANALYSIS OF VELOCITY TOLERANCES
New Zealand mud snails (Potamopyrgus antipodarum) are an invasive species that has successfully spread across the United States since their introduction in 1987. Recently, in 2016, they invaded the Carmel River, California. Their invasion has been successful due to their rapid reproduction, lack of predators and diffusion due to fish populations; however, they are limited by water chemistry and velocity. Because their tolerances has not been studied, our aim is to determine velocity conditions which prevent the snail from traveling upstream. To investigate this, we constructed a recirculating microcosm that we could manipulate velocity in. We then collected snails from the Carmel River and exposed them to different velocities to determine the maximum velocity they could move upstream against. Our findings indicate that 2:25 snails can withstand flow at 71 cm/s and travel upstream at velocities of up to 85.2 cm/s. We observed little to no snail movement at higher velocities, with detachment ranging from 22.4 cm/s to up to 85 cm/s. Ultimately, our goal is to better understand snail tolerances in hopes to implement a model that would predict the limits of their invasion.
Katharina Zimmermann (Primary Presenter/Author,Co-Presenter/Co-Author), School of Natural Sciences, California State University Monterey Bay, CA, USA, kzimmermann@csumb.edu;
Kelsey Trammell (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), School of Natural Sciences, California State University Monterey Bay, CA, USA, ktrammell@csumb.edu ;
John Olson (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Dept of Applied Environmental Science, California State University Monterey Bay, CA, USA, joolson@csumb.edu;