Description
Synonymy - Martins (1996) lists 88 synonyms, so the list given here consists primarily of names used in the Western Atlantic, or used frequently elsewhere. Authors and dates for some of these names are listed:
Auricularia myosotis; Draparnaud 1801, Alexia bermudensi Adams 1855, Voluta denticulata Gould 1841, Dall 1855, Auricularia denticulata Gould 1841, Phytia myostis marylandica Pilsbry 1900, Ovatella myosotis Meyer 1955, Myosotella myosotis Monterosato 1906 '
Phytia' is a misspelling of 'Pythia'. 'Myosotella' has usually been treated as a subgenus of Ovatella, but Martins (1996) raises it to full species rank.
Taxonomy
| Kingdom | Phylum | Class | Order | Family | Genus |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Animalia | Mollusca | Gastropoda | Basommatophora | Ellobiidae | Ovatella |
Synonyms
Invasion History
Chesapeake Bay Status
| First Record | Population | Range | Introduction | Residency | Source Region | Native Region | Vectors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900 | Established | Stable | Introduced | Regular Resident | Western Atlantic | Eastern Atlantic | Shipping(Dry Ballast) |
History of Spread
The salt marsh snail Myosotella myosotis is native to the eastern Atlantic coastlines from the British Isles and western Baltic to the Mediterranean, and ws introduced to the western Atlantic from Nova Scotia to the West Indies, the eastern Pacific from Washington to California, and to the coasts of South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand (Abbott 1974; Carlton 1979; Carlton 1992; Martins 1996; Morrison 1963). 'In my opinion this species has been introduced accidentally to every locality in which it is now living in the Western hemisphere. At least on the Atlantic coast of the United States, every such locality known to me is either a port or an oystering wharf. Because of the life history, which is known to include 'crawl away' young instead of a pelagic stage, Phytia (Myosotella myostis) still shows the same spotty distribution, many years after it first reached those places' (Morrison 1963). The records listed below suggest a southward spread from New England on the East coast, but this may reflect the distribution of collectors.
Records for North America are summarized below:
Gulf of Maine- M. myosotis was collected in Boston MA before 1841 (Gould 1841; Carlton 1992). This snail's range now extends through the Gulf, to Halifax, Nova Scotia, on the Atlantic Coast to the north (Martins 1996).
Buzzards Bay-Vineyard Sound- Myosotella myosotis was first collected in Vineyard Sound before 1874 (Verrill and Smith 1874), and is widespread in the region (Sumner et al. 1913; Martins 1996).
Narragansett Bay-Rhode Island Sound- Myosotella myosotis was first collected in North America in Narragansett Bay in 1832 (Conrad 1932, cited by Martins 1996). It was collected at Newport, RI Narragansett Bay in 1880 , at the mouth of Narragansett Bay (Verrill 1880a) and was later collected at at Wickford RI and Warren RI (the latter on Mount Hope Bay, an upper subestuary) (Martins 1996).
Long Island Sound- Myosotella myosotis was reported in 1869: 'very abundant on the stone foundations of the bridge over the West River; near West Haven', near New Haven CT (Perkins 1869). At Cold Spring Harbor NY, in 1899, it was reportedly 'uncommon' (Balch 1899).
Hudson Estuary-NY Bight- Myosotella myosotis was described as 'abundant' on Staten Island NY in 1865; (Hubbard and Smith 1865).
NJ Coastal Bays and Delaware Bay- Verrill and Smith (1874) mention an occurrence at Cape May, at the mouth of Delaware Bay, and Martins (1996) cites an undated record from this location.
Chesapeake Bay- Myosotella myosotis (as Alexia myosotis marylandica) was first collected in 1900 in St. Leonards Creek, a Patuxent River tributary (Pilsbry 1900; United States National Museum of Natural History collections) (Pilsbry 1900). Other Chesapeake records are listed below.
NC Sounds- Myosotella myosotis was collected at the mouth of Newport River (no date given) (Martins 1996).
South Carolina- Myosotella myosotis was collected at Charleston NC (no date given) (Martins 1996).
Georgia- Myosotella myosotis was collected at Isle of Hope GA and Thunderbolt GA (no date given) (Martins 1996).
Bermuda - Myosotella myosotis was collected here in 1855 (Rosenberg 1995).
West Indies - Myosotella myosotis was recorded by Johnson (1934) and others, but Martins (1996) considers these records erroneous.
San Francisco Bay and the West Coast - The first record was in 1871, and this snail spread rapidly along the Pacific coast, reaching Los Angeles by 1915 and WA by 1928. By the 1970's it was found from the British Columbia border to Baja California. It was probably introduced from the east coast of the United States with transplants of Atlantic oysters, or with shipping in ballast or as fouling (Carlton 1979).
Chesapeake Bay Records:
Lower Bay - Myosotella myosotis was collected in 1935 at Fisherman's Island (Northampton Co), VA, at the mouth of the Bay (United States National Museum of Natural History collections), in 'swamps' at Norfolk VA (no date given) (Wass 1972),and at Crisfield, MD and on the Little Annemessex River MD (Allen 1954a; United States National Museum of Natural History collections. It was reported as; 'present in large numbers' (Allen 1954).
Rappahannock River- Myosotella myosotis was collected at Mollusk VA (Wass 1972).
Patuxent River- Myosotella myosotis (as Alexia myosotis marylandica) was first collected in 1900 in St. Leonards Creek, a Patuxent River tributary (Pilsbry 1900; United States National Museum of Natural History collections).
Atlantic Coastal Bays- Myosotella myosotis was collected at Chincoteague VA, on Shell Bay, in Accomack County VA on Watt's Bay and at Willis Wharf (Northampton County) VA, on Hog Island Bay (Wass 1972).
History References - Allen 1954a; Balch 1899; Carlton 1979; Carlton 1992; Gould 1841; Hubbard and Smith 1865; Johnson 1934; Morrison 1963; Perkins 1869; Pilsbry 1900; Rosenberg 1995; Smith and Prime 1870; Wass 1972
Invasion Comments
Vector(s) of Introduction - 'The wide range of Myosotella myosotis is attributed to its estuarine and supralittoral habits; most probably the animals were carried about in ballast or as egg masses laid on deck equipment or cargo that came into direct contact with marsh communities' (Martins 1996).
Ecology
Environmental Tolerances
| For Survival | For Reproduction | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum | Maximum | Minimum | Maximum | |
| Temperature (ºC) | ||||
| Salinity (‰) | 0.0 | 55.0 | 5.0 | 50.0 |
| Oxygen | ||||
| pH | ||||
| Salinity Range | meso-eu |
Age and Growth
| Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum Adult Size (mm) | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| Typical Adult Size (mm) | ||
| Maximum Adult Size (mm) | 7.0 | 7.0 |
| Maximum Longevity (yrs) | ||
| Typical Longevity (yrs |
Reproduction
| Start | Peak | End | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reproductive Season | |||
| Typical Number of Young Per Reproductive Event |
|||
| Sexuality Mode(s) | |||
| Mode(s) of Asexual Reproduction |
|||
| Fertilization Type(s) | |||
| More than One Reproduction Event per Year |
|||
| Reproductive Startegy | |||
| Egg/Seed Form |
Impacts
Economic Impacts in Chesapeake Bay
The salt marsh snail Myosotella myosotis has no known economic impacts in Chesapeake Bay.
Economic Impacts Outside of Chesapeake Bay
The salt marsh snail Myosotella myosotis has no economic impacts in its native or introduced range.
Ecological Impacts on Chesapeake Native Species
The salt marsh snail Myosotella myosotis is very local in its distribution and seems to coexist well with two other species of similar habits, Melampus bidentatus (native) and Assiminea succinea (cryptogenic) (Allen 1954a; Wass 1972). Of these three upper intertidal, semiterrestrial snails, Melampus bidentatus appears to be by far the most abundant on the Atlantic Coast and Chesapeake Bay (Gosner 1978; Wass 1972). Carlton and Berman (1991) found that no feeding interactions occurred between M. myosotis, and the native snails Assiminea californica; and Littorina subrotundata in California salt marshes.
References - Allen 1954a; Berman and Carlton 1991; Gosner 1978; Wass et. al. 1972
Ecological Impacts on Other Chesapeake Non-Native Species
Myosotella myosotis frequently co-occurs with Assiminea succinea (cryptogenic) (Allen 1954a; Wass 1972). Berman and Carlton (1991) found that no feeding interactions occurred between M. myosotis, Assiminea californica, and Littorina subrotundata in California salt marshes.
References - Allen 1954a; Berman and Carlton 1991; Gosner 1978; Wass et. al 1972
References
Allen, J. Frances (1954) Notes on the gastropods collected in the vicinity of Crisfield, Maryland, The Nautilus 67: 92-94Berman, Jody; Carlton, James T. (1991) Marine invasion processes: Interactions between native and introduced marsh snails, Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 150: 267-281
Carlton, James T. (1979) History, biogeography, and ecology of the introduced marine and estuarine invertebrates of the Pacific Coast of North America, , Davis. Pp. 1-904
Carlton, James T. (1992) Introduced marine and estuarine mollusks of North America: An end-of-the-20th-century perspective., Journal of Shellfish Research 11: 489-505
Gosner, Kenneth L. (1978) A field guide to the Atlantic seashore., In: (Eds.) . , Boston. Pp.
Gould, Augustus A. (1841) Report on the invertebrata of Massachusetts, comprising the Mollusca, Crustacea, Annelida, and Radiata., , Cambridge. Pp.
Gould, Augustus A. (1870) Report of the Invertebrata of Massachusetts, Comprising the Mollusca, , Boston. Pp.
Hubbard, J. W.; Smith, Sanderson (1865) Catalogue of the Mollusca of Staten Island, N. Y., Annals of the Lyceum of Natural History in New York 8: 2-5
Johnson, Charles W. (1915) Fauna of New England. 13. List of the Mollusca, Occasional Papers of the Boston Society of Natural History 7: 1-223
Johnson, Charles W. (1934) List of marine mollusca of the Atlantic coast from Labrador to Texas, Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History 40: 1-204
Martins, Antonio M. (1996) Anatomy and systematics of the Western Atlantic Ellobiidae (Gastropoda, Pulmonata)., Malacologia 37: 163-332
Meyer, von Karl Otto (1955) Naturgeschichte der Standschnecke Ovatella myosotis (Draparanaud), Archiv fur Molluskenkunde 84: 1-43
Morrison, J. P. E. (1963) Cecina from the state of Washington, Nautilus 76: 150-151
Perkins, George H. (1869) Molluscan fauna of New Haven. A critical review of all the marine, fresh water and land Mollusca of the region, with descriptions of many of the living animals and of two new species. Part I. Cephalopoda and Gasteropda, Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History 13: 109-136
Perkins, George H. (1869) Molluscan fauna of New Haven. A critical review of all the marine, fresh water and land Mollusca of the region, with descriptions of many of the living animals and of two new species. Part I. Cephalopoda and Gasteropda, Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History 13: 109-136
Phorson, J. E. (1990) Some observations on juveniles and growth series of Leucophytia bidentata (Montagu 1808) and Ovatella myosotis (Draparnaud 1801)., Conchologist's Newsletter : 366-370
Pilsbry, H. A. (1900) Notices of new American snails, The Nautilus 14: 40
1995-2023 Malacolog 4.1. http://www.acnatsci.org
Ruthensteiner, Bernhard (1991) Development of Ovatella (Myosotella) myosotis (Pulmonata, Ellobiidae)., Proccedings of the International Malacological Congress 10: 45-46
Seelemann, Ursula (1968) Zur Uberwindung der biologischen grenze meer-land durch mollusken, Oecologia 1: 130-154
Smith, Sanderson; Prime, Temple (1870) Report on the Mollusca of Long Island, N. Y., and of its dependencies, Annals of the Lyceum of Natural History 9: 377-407
Wass, Melvin L. (1972) A checklist of the biota of lower Chesapeake Bay, Special Scientific Report, Virginia Institute of Marine Science 65: 1-290