Description

Taxonomy

Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family	Genus
Animalia	Mollusca	Gastropoda	Monotocardia	Vitrinellidae	Vitrinella

Synonyms

Invasion History

Chesapeake Bay Status

First Record	Population	Range	Introduction	Residency	Source Region	Native Region	Vectors
1984	Established	Unknown	Cryptogenic	Regular Resident	Western Atlantic	Western Atlantic	Shipping(Ballast Water,Fouling Community),Fisheries(Oysters-accidental)

History of Spread

The snail Vitrinella floridana (Florida Vitrinella) was described by Pilsbry and McGinty in 1946 from Northern Biscayne Bay FL and was subsequently found on the Atlantic coast northward to Indian River, and in the Gulf of Mexico from Campeche Bank and Yucatan, Mexico, and Belize to all the coastal bays' of Texas ' (Abbott 1974; McCarthy and Cox 1987; Ode 1987).

In 1984-1985, V. floridana was found year-round in benthic samples taken at an oyster reef, Wreck Shoal, in the James River VA (37 03.2'N; 76 34.6'W), representing a range extension of 1100 km northward (McCarthy and Cox 1987). The authors suggest that this species may have been previously overlooked at sites north of FL because of its small size (~2 mm). However, many species of similar size, including 3 species of vitrinellids (Wass 1972) have been reported from Chesapeake Bay waters. There have been no further published Chesapeake records of this species.

Vitrinella floridana is known as a Pleistocene fossil from Virginia deposits near the Chesapeake Bay (Spencer and Campbell 1987). It should be noted that ranges of many mollusks appear to have fluctuated drastically during the post-glacial period. We do not know whether V. floridana was present in the Bay at the time of European colonization.

History References - Abbott 1974; McCarthy and Cox 1987; Pilsbry and McGinty 1946; Ode 1987;Spencer and Campbell 1987; Wass 1972

Invasion Comments

Invasion Status - McCarthy and Cox (1987) treated the occurrence of V. floridana as a range extenstion, rather than an introduction. However, since many gastropods of similar size, including several species of vitrinellids, are known from Chesapeake Bay, we think it is unlikely that this species has escaped notice over a range of 1100 km. We therefore regard V. floridana as a possible recent introduction to the Chesapeake Bay.

Ecology

Environmental Tolerances

	For Survival		For Reproduction
	Minimum	Maximum	Minimum	Maximum
Temperature (ºC)	3.7
Salinity (‰)	12.4	36.0
Oxygen
pH
	Salinity Range	meso-poly

Age and Growth

	Male	Female
Minimum Adult Size (mm)
Typical Adult Size (mm)		1.5
Maximum Adult Size (mm)		2.1
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 snail Vitrinella floridana (Florida Vitrinella) has no economic impact in Chesapeake Bay region.

Economic Impacts Outside of Chesapeake Bay

Vitrinella floridana has no known economic impact anywhere in its range.

Ecological Impacts on Chesapeake Native Species

The snail Vitrinella floridana (Florida Vitrinella) probably has no detectable impacts on native biota in Chesapeake Bay. However, its abundance and distribution in the Bay are unknown.

Ecological Impacts on Other Chesapeake Non-Native Species

The snail Vitrinella floridana (Florida Vitrinella) probably has no impacts on introduced or cryptogenic species in Chesapeake Bay.

References

Bieler, Rüdiger; Mikkelsen, Paula M. (1988) Anatomy and reproductive biology of two Western Atlantic species of Vitrinellidae, with a case of protandrous hermaphroditism in the Rissoaceae, Nautilus 102: 1-29

McCarthy, Kevin J.; Cox, Carrollyn (1988) Northern range extension for Vitrinella floridana Pilsbry & McGinty (Gastropoda: Prosobranchia: Vitrinellidae) from South Florida to the James River, Virginia, The Veliger 31: 272

Ode, H. (1987) Distribution and records of the marine mollusca of the northern Gulf of Mexico, Texas Conchologist 23: 110-118

Spencer, R. S.; Campbell, L. D. (1987) Fauna and paleoecology of the late Pleistocene marine sediments of southeastern Virginia, Bulletins of American Paleontology 92: 1-124

Wass, Melvin L. (1972) A checklist of the biota of lower Chesapeake Bay, Special Scientific Report, Virginia Institute of Marine Science 65: 1-290

Vitrinella floridana

Mollusks-Gastropods