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The non-native faucet snail (Bithynia tentaculata) makes the leap to Lake Superior
Citation:
Trebitz, A., G. Shepard, V. Brady, AND K. Schmude. The non-native faucet snail (Bithynia tentaculata) makes the leap to Lake Superior. JOURNAL OF GREAT LAKES RESEARCH. International Association for Great Lakes Research, Ann Arbor, MI, 41(4):1197-1200, (2015).
Impact/Purpose:
ORD/NHEERL/MED research aimed at building science capacity for invasive species early detection monitoring includes intensive sampling of selected Great Lakes ports to provide datasets with which to evaluate detection strategies. Benthic invertebrate samples that we collected from Lake Superior’s St. Louis River Estuary (SLRE) in 2012 as part of this research included multiple specimens of faucet snail (Bithynia tentaculata), a non-native species not previously known from Lake Superior, although it has been present in the lower Great Lakes for ~150 years. This short paper combines EPA data with data from other (non-EPA) groups that also collected samples from the SLRE to evaluate what is known of the faucet snail spread and alert the Great Lakes community to its presence.
Description:
The European-origin faucet snail (Bithynia tentaculata) has been present in the lower Great Lakes since the late 1800s but only very recently reached Lake Superior. Surveys from 2011 through 2013 found faucet snail to be abundant and wide-spread in the St. Louis River Estuary with scattered finds elsewhere along Lake Superior’s southern shore. Faucet snail collections were primarily in shallow vegetated areas that had been sampled with D-frame nets. The operculum is a key feature in differentiating faucet snails from other similar-looking gastropods. Given its potential for impacts and spread, the faucet snail warrants an elevated profile in upper Great Lakes non-native species monitoring, education, and decontamination measures.
