Invasion
Invasion Description
1st Record: Coral Gables/FL/Lake Osceola (1971, Dundee 1974)
Geographic Extent
St. Lucie County/FL/St. Lucie River (1978, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution Collections); Martin County/FL/St. Lucie River (Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution Collections); Brevard County/FL/Fellsmere Canal (Sebastian Creek drainage) Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution Collections); Fort Lauderdale/FL/Middle River Canal (1973, Russo 1973, 0.4-4.3 PSU); Pomana Beach/FL/Pompano Canal (1973, Russo 1974, freshwater); Coral Gables/FL/Lake Osceola (1966, Clench 1970; Dundee 1974); mangrove areas in the Matheson Hammock-Snapper Creek area of Coral Gables, FL/adjacent to Biscayne Bay (Roesseler et al. 1977; 2007); Biscayne Bay National Park at Black Point/FL/Biscayne Bay (2004, USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Program 2007; Wingard et al. 2007); Biscayne Bay National Park at Black Point/FL/Biscayne Bay (2004, Center for Aquatic Resource Studies 2007); Collier County/FL/Palm Bay (1983, USNM 851419, US National Museum of Natural History 2009); Hillsborough State Park (Hillsborough County)/FL/Hillsborough River1969, Clench 1970); Columbus Dr., Tampa/FL/Hillsborough River (1969, FLMNH 39507, Florda Museum of Natural History 2013); FL/'estuarine tributaries of Tampa Bay (Baker et al. 2005); New Orleans/LA/Canals flowing into Lake Pontchartrain (Dundee and Paine 1977, cited by Center for Aquatic Resource Studies 2007); Mexico/Tuxpam and Tecolutla rivers (2007, Lopez-Lopez et al. 2010, nontidal?)
Vectors
| Level | Vector |
|---|---|
| Probable | Pet Release |
Regional Impacts
| Ecological Impact | Competition | |
| Melanoides tuberculata is suspected to have competitive impacts on native snails on the shoreline of Biscayne Bay, because it is present in abundances which greatly exceed those of native snails (Wingard et al. 2007). The likeliest competitor is Neritina virginea (Virgin Nerite), which also grazes microalgae. However, impacts are likely to be localized, as M. tuberculata is strongly concentrated near the mouths of canals (Roessler et al. 1977; Wingard et al. 2007). | ||