Viviparus georgianus

Invasion History

First Non-native North American Tidal Record: 1895
First Non-native West Coast Tidal Record:
First Non-native East/Gulf Coast Tidal Record: 1895

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General Invasion History:

Viviparus georgianus, together with other members of the 'V. georgianus' species complex, are native to the Mississippi drainage and Southeast Atlantic drainages from Illinois to Louisiana and Georgia to Florida (Clench 1962; Burch 1982; Katoh and Foltz 1994). Viviparus georgianus is an attractive snail, which has been widely distributed in Northeastern North America by collectors, the aquarium trade, and canals (Clench 1962; Clench and Fuller 1965; Mills et al. 1993; Mills et al. 1997).

North American Invasion History:

Invasion History on the East Coast:

The first introduction of Viviparus georgianus to Atlantic Coast drainages was to the Mohawk River, New York (NY) by James Lewis, an amateur naturalist, in 1867. Multiple introductions from aquarium releases, barge traffic, etc. are likely (Clench 1962; Mills et al. 1993; Mills et al. 1997). It was first found in Lake Michigan in 1906, in Lake Erie in 1914, and in the St. Lawrence estuary, Quebec in 1953 (Bousfield 1955). It probably reached the Hudson and Lake Erie by Lewis's introduction in the Mohawk River, but spotty distribution in the Hudson basin indicates multiple introductions. This snail reached the Hudson estuary at Albany by 1895 (Marshall 1895, cited by Strayer 1987). By 1922, it was found in Annandale, NY, in the Sawkill River about 75 km downstream. It was locally abundant in two 1980’s surveys (Strayer 1987; Jokinen 1992). However, no specimens were collected in a 2008 survey (Coote and Strayer 2008).

Introductions outside the Great Lakes and Hudson River probably came from the use of this attractive snail in aquariums and fish ponds. Viviparus georgianus was first reported from ponds in the Boston Public Gardens in 1916, and soon became widespread in the Charles River in the vicinity of Boston (Clench 1962; Clench and Fuller 1965). Along the Delaware River, it was first reported in Fairmont Park, Philadelphia in 1909 (Clench 1962; ANSP 98696, A9232, Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 2014). In the Chesapeake Bay region, V. georgianus has only been found in the Potomac River. The oldest United States National Museum of Natural History specimens are dated 1901, from Hunters Point, Alexandria, Virginia (VA). This snail was reported from Seneca, Maryland and Great Falls to Alexandria and Mount Vernon, VA (Clench 1962; United States National Museum of Natural History collections). Diilon (2013) noted a map record from Swan Creek Maryland, on upper Chespeake Bay (Dillon 2013).The present abundance and distribution are not known. Paul Fofonoff (Smithsonian Environmental Research Center) has not found shells of this snail in occasional searches along the tidal and lower nontidal Potomac (1996-2000), so it may be less abundant than Bellamya chinensis (Chinese Mystery Snail) and B. japonica (Japanese Mystery Snail) (Fofonoff, personal observation).

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Description

The shell of Viviparus georgianus is dextrally coiled, somewhat globular, and rather thin, with 4-5 rounded strongly convex whorls with a strong shoulder. The columella is narrow and arched. The umbilicus is either absent, or narrow and slit-like. The aperture is oval to subcircular. The outer lip is thin. The shell sculpture consists of fine growth lines. The operculum is horny with concentric growth lines. Large specimens can reach 44 mm. The shell is yellowish to dark-brownish green, with uniform color, or dark bands (Clench 1962).

Viviparus georgianus in the Southeastern United States appears to be a part of a species complex. Genetic and morphometric studies have established at least two new species, Viviparus limi (Ochlockonee Mystery Snail) and Viviparus goodrichi (Globose Mystery Snail), in Florida and Georgia Atlantic drainages. Additional species are likely within this complex (Katoh and Foltz 1994). Two other native species, V. subpurpureus and V. intertextus, native to Mississippi-Gulf drainages are more distinct, but still quite similar (Clench 1962). Some records and museum specimens in Atlantic Coast watersheds (St. Lawrence, Potomac) have been identified as the European V. viviparus or V. contectus (Bousfield 1955; Dundee 1974; Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 2014; Museum of Comparative Zoology 2014; US National Museum of Natural History collections), or as the North American V. subpurpureus (ANSP 27709, from Washington DC, Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 2014). We will follow Clench (1962) in referring to introduced populations in the Great Lakes, St. Lawrence River, and Atlantic drainages from Massachusetts to Virginia as V. goergianus, but clearly, the identity of these snails requires more examination.

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Taxonomy

Ecology

General:

Viviparus georgianus is a large freshwater snail. Sexes are separate and males have an enlarged right tentacle, which is used in copulation (Fretter and Graham 1962). Females are larger than males, overall mean size at maturation was 13 mm for males and 14 mm for females, and maturation occurred about 1 year after birth. Eggs are fertilized internally and develop in a brood chamber. Eggs take about 60 days to develop and the young are born at about 6 mm shell length. Estimated annual fecundity is 39 embryos per year (Keller et al. 2007). Male snails can live about 18 months and reach a maximum of 22 mm length, while females can live for 3 years and may measure 44 mm (Browne 1978).

Viviparus georgianus tolerates a wide range of temperature, ranging from the Gulf Coast to northern lakes that regularly have ice-cover. It inhabits slowly flowing and stagnant rivers, streams, canals, and lakes (Clench 1962; Strayer 1987; Jokinen 1992). Salinity tolerance of V. georgianus is not known, but is probably similar to that of European V. viviparus (Fretter and Graham 1962). In New York State it tolerated a wide range of soft/hard water conditions, and a pH range of 6.3-8.5 (Jokinen 1992). Typical habitats are muddy or silty and vegetated, but may include some rocks, coarse woody debris, or man-made structures (Duch 1976; Jokinen 1992).

Viviparus georgianus feeds like many other snails, scraping diatoms and other algae off the sediment surface and hard substrates with its radula (Duch 1976). However, it has another feeding mode, in which it lies half-buried in sediment and filters water through its elaborate gill filaments, capturing suspended particles of phytoplankton and sediment (Fretter and Graham 1963). Predators probably include crayfishes, fishes, waterfowl, and mammals.

Food:

phytoplanakton, periphyton

Trophic Status:

Herbivore

Herb

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Habitats

General Habitat	Fresh (nontidal) Marsh	None
General Habitat	Grass Bed	None
General Habitat	Coarse Woody Debris	None
General Habitat	Nontidal Freshwater	None
General Habitat	Tidal Fresh Marsh	None
General Habitat	Unstructured Bottom	None
General Habitat	Rocky	None
Salinity Range	Limnetic	0-0.5 PSU
Salinity Range	Oligohaline	0.5-5 PSU
Tidal Range	Subtidal	None
Vertical Habitat	Epibenthic	None

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Life History

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Tolerances and Life History Parameters

Minimum Salinity (‰)	0	None
Maximum Salinity (‰)	3	Based on tolerance of European V. viviparus (Fretter and Graham 1963)
Minimum pH	6.3	Field Jokinen 1992
Maximum pH	8.5	Field Jokinen 1992
Minimum Length (mm)	13	Minimum length at maturity for males, 14 mm for females (Browne 1978)
Maximum Length (mm)	44	Clench 1963
Broad Temperature Range	None	Warm temperate-Cold temperate
Broad Salinity Range	None	Nontidal Limnetic-Oligohaline

General Impacts

In some Minnesota lakes, Viviparus georgianus has developed very high biomasses, followed by die-offs, forming windrows of shells on the shore and unpleasant odors (Bury et al. 2007). However, we are not aware of impacts in invaded estuaries.

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References

Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 2002-2024a Malacology Collection Search. <missing URL>



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Bousfield, E. L. (1955) Viviparus viviparus in eastern Canada, Canadian Field-Naturalist 69: 27-28

Browne, Robert A. (1978) Growth, mortality, fecundity, biomass, and productivity of four lake populations of the prosobranch snail Viviparus georgianus, Ecology 59(4): 742-750

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Bury, Jennifer A.; Sietman, Bernard E.; Karns, Byron N. (2007) Distribution of the non-native viviparid snails, Bellamya chinensis and Viviparus georgianus, in Minnesota and the first record of Bellamya japonica from Wisconsin, Journal of Freshwater Ecology 22(4): 697-703

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Duch, Thomas M. (1976) Aspects of the feeding habits of Viviparus georgianus, Nautilus 90(1): 7-10

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Mills, Edward L.; Leach, Joseph H.; Carlton, James T.; Secor, Carol L. (1993) Exotic species in the Great Lakes: a history of biotic crises and anthropogenic introductions., Journal of Great Lakes Research 19(1): 1-54

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Richards, Horace G. (1934) A list of mollusks of the District of Columbia and vicinity, American Midland Naturalist 15: 85-88

Stewart, Timothy; Dillon, Robert T. (2004) Species composition and geographic distribution of Virginia's freshwater gastropod fauna: A review using historical records., American Malacological Bulletin 10(1/2): 79-91

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Vincent, B. (1979) Etude du benthos d'eau douce dans le haut-estuaire du Saint-Laurent (Quebec), Canadian Journal of Zoology 57: 2171-2182

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