page_title: New Zealand mud snail
section_title: Distribution within the United States
hierarchical_section_title: New Zealand mud snail / Distribution / Distribution within the United States
caption_attribution_description: English: Distribution map of Potamopyrgus antipodarum in the USA in 2009.
context_page_description: The New Zealand mud snail is a species of very small freshwater snail with a gill and an operculum. This aquatic gastropod mollusk is in the family Tateidae.
  It is native to New Zealand, where it is found throughout the country, but it has been introduced to many other countries, where it is often considered an invasive species because populations of the snail can reach phenomenal densities.
context_section_description: First detected in the United States in Idaho's Snake River in 1987, the mudsnail has since spread to the Madison River, Firehole River, and other watercourses around Yellowstone National Park; samples have been discovered throughout the western United States. Although the exact means of transmission is unknown, it is likely that it was introduced in water transferred with live game fish and has been spread by ship ballast or contaminated recreational equipment such as wading gear.
  The New Zealand mudsnail has no natural predators or parasites in the United States, and consequently has become an invasive species. Densities have reached greater than 300,000 individuals per m² in the Madison River. It can reach concentrations greater than 500,000 per m², endangering the food chain by outcompeting native snails and water insects for food, leading to sharp declines in native populations. Fish populations then suffer because the native snails and insects are their main food source.
  Mudsnails are impressively resilient. A snail can live for 24 hours without water. They can however survive for up to 50 days on a damp surface, giving them ample time to be transferred from one body of water to another on fishing gear. The snails may even survive passing through the digestive systems of fish and birds.
  Mudsnails have now spread from Idaho to most western states of the U.S., including Wyoming, California, Nevada, Oregon, Montana, and Colorado. Environmental officials for these states have attempted to slow the spread of the snail by advising the public to keep an eye out for the snails, and bleach or heat any gear which may contain mudsnails. Rivers have also been temporarily closed to fishing to avoid anglers spreading the snails.
  The snails grow to a smaller size in the U.S. than in their native habitat, reaching 6 mm (¼ in) at most in parts of Idaho, but can be much smaller making them easy to overlook when cleaning fishing gear.
  Clonal species like the New Zealand mudsnail can often develop clonal lines with quite diverse appearances, called morphs. Until 2005, all the snails found in the western states of the U.S. were believed to be from a single line. However a second morph has been identified in Idaho's Snake River. It grows to a similar size but has a distinctive appearance. (It has been nicknamed the salt-and-pepper mudsnail due to the final whorl being lighter than the rest of the shell.) This morph has apparently been present in the area for several years before being identified correctly as a distinct morph of Potamopyrgus antipodarum. It dominates the typical morph where they overlap, and has a much higher prevalence of males.
  In 1991, the New Zealand mudsnail was discovered in Lake Ontario, and has now been found in four of the five Great Lakes. In 2005 and 2006, it was found to be widespread in Lake Erie. By 2006 it had spread to Duluth-Superior Harbour and the freshwater estuary of the Saint Louis River. It was found to be inhabiting Lake Michigan, after scientists took water samples in early summer of 2008. The snails in the Great Lakes represent a different line from those found in western states, and were probably introduced indirectly through Europe.
  In 2002, the New Zealand mudsnail was discovered in the Columbia River Estuary. In 2009, the species was discovered in Capitol Lake in Olympia, Washington. The lake has been closed to all public use, including boating and other recreation, since 2009. A heavy cold snap in 2013, combined with a drawdown in water level in preparation, was roughly estimated to have killed 40–60% of the mudsnail population. Other known locations include the Long Beach peninsula, Kelsey Creek (King County), Thornton Creek (King County), and Lake Washington.
  In 2010, the Los Angeles Times reported that the New Zealand mudsnail had infested watersheds in the Santa Monica Mountains, posing serious threats to native species and complicating efforts to improve stream-water quality for the endangered Southern California Distinct Population Segment of steelhead. According to the article, the sn
caption: Distribution of Potamopyrgus antipodarum within the USA in 2009.
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