Abstract
The Chinese mystery snail (Bellamya chinensis) is an aquatic invasive species in North America. Little is known regarding this species' impacts on freshwater ecosystems. It is believed that population densities can be high, yet no population estimates have been reported. We utilized a mark-recapture approach to generate a population estimate for Chinese mystery snail in Wild Plum Lake, a 6.47-ha reservoir in southeast Nebraska. We calculated, using bias-adjusted Lincoln-Petersen estimation, that there were approximately 664 adult snails within a 127 m 2 transect (5.2 snails/m 2 ). If this density was consistent throughout the littoral zone (<3 m in depth) of the reservoir, then the total adult population in this impoundment is estimated to be 253,570 snails, and the total Chinese mystery snail wet biomass is estimated to be 3,119 kg (643 kg/ha). If this density is confined to the depth sampled in this study (1.46 m), then the adult population is estimated to be 169,400 snails, and wet biomass is estimated to be 2,084 kg (643 kg/ha). Additional research is warranted to further test the utility of mark-recapture methods for aquatic snails and to better understand Chinese mystery snail distributions within reservoirs.
Highlights
The Chinese mystery snail (Bellamya [=Cipangopaludina] chinensis (Reeve, 1863)), native to Asia, is an invasive species in North American freshwater ecosystems that has established populations in at least 27 states and some, if not all, of the Great Lakes (Johnson et al 2009; Jokinen 1982; Solomon et al 2010; USGS 2012)
Aquatic snails present a challenge for estimating population size
A mark-recapture technique has been tested for estimating the density of another large-sized aquatic snail, the apple snail (Pomacea paludosa (Say, 1829)), in Florida freshwater marshes (Darby et al 1997)
Summary
The Chinese mystery snail (Bellamya [=Cipangopaludina] chinensis (Reeve, 1863)), native to Asia, is an invasive species in North American freshwater ecosystems that has established populations in at least 27 states and some, if not all, of the Great Lakes (Johnson et al 2009; Jokinen 1982; Solomon et al 2010; USGS 2012). For the transect area sampled, the bias-adjusted Lincoln-Petersen estimation method proposed by Chapman (Seber 1982; Williams et al 2002) was used to determine a population estimate, variance and 95% confidence interval.
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