Bad news for LA NZMS

[Dryrod]

[mad][font "Poor Richard"][size 3][green]Tuesday, June 13, 2006 OC Register[/green][/size][/font] [font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]New Zealand mud snail found in region's streams[/size][/green][/font] [font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]Invasive, spiral-shaped gastropods could destroy food supplies for other wildlife.[/size][/green][/font]
[font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3][/size][/green][/font][font "Poor Richard"][size 3][green]The Associated Press
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[font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]LOS ANGELES – Tiny water snails that are sometimes called "aquatic locusts" could bring big problems for Southern California.[/size][/green][/font]
[font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]The New Zealand mud snail - which measures less than an eighth of an inch - has recently appeared in four local streams and has environmental groups worried.[/size][/green][/font]
[font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]The invasive, spiral-shaped gastropods spread by clinging to boats, boots, fur and feathers and they reach such high numbers and eat so voraciously that they can destroy food supplies for other local wildlife.[/size][/green][/font]
[font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]They can reach concentrations of hundreds of thousands per square yard, and populations can double their number in just a few months.[/size][/green][/font]
[font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]"We've found there's not much we can do to keep them from spreading," said Steve Martarano, spokesman for the state Department of Fish and Game. "There's just no way we can contain it."[/size][/green][/font]
[font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]Environmental groups learned last week that the creatures were found during winter bug surveys of Malibu Creek, Las Virgenes Creek, Lindero Canyon Creek and Medea Creek, all in Los Angeles County.[/size][/green][/font]
[font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]Malibu Creek is home to two endangered species: the southern steelhead trout and the red-legged frog, which eat insects that could be displaced by the snails.[/size][/green][/font]
[font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]The snails have found their way to 10 Western states and three national parks since first appearing in Idaho in the 1980s.[/size][/green][/font]
[font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]They were discovered in California three years ago in rivers in the Sierra Nevada. Officials said the bugs have yet to cause major problems among fish populations there.[/size][/green][/font]
[font "Poor Richard"][green][size 3]"There's certainly a concern, but we just don't know," Martarano said. "They haven't been around long enough."[/size][/green][/font]
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[Tarpon4me]

L.A. isn't the only place with a "snail" problem. Check this out:
[size 5]Zebra Mussel[/size][size 3]
[/size][font "arial, helvetica"][size 3]Dreissena polymorpha[/size][/font] [ul] [li] [left][size 2]The zebra mussel is a small freshwater mollusk native to eastern Europe and western Asia.
[/size][/left] [li] [left][size 2]Zebra mussels were first found in North America in the Great Lakes in 1988.
[/size][/left] [li] [left][size 2]Since 1988, they have spread rapidly throughout many of the inland waterways of the eastern United States.
[/size][/left] [li] [left][size 2]Zebra mussels are an important threat to surface water resources and water uses because of their high reproductive capacity and their ability to attach to underwater objects and surfaces.[/size] [/left][/li][/ul] [center][size 2]
[/size][/center] [ul] [li] [left][size 2]Problems caused by zebra mussels include:[/size][/left]
[ul] [li] [left][size 2]clogging municipal, industrial and power plant water supply systems;[/size] [/left] [li] [left][size 2]causing taste and odor problems in drinking water;[/size] [/left] [li] [left][size 2]damaging boat engines and fouling boat hulls;[/size] [/left] [li] [left][size 2]killing native mollusks, disrupting aquatic food chains and eliminating fish spawning beds;[/size] [/left] [li] [left][size 2]creating foul-smelling eyesores at beaches and other recreational areas.
[/size] [/left][/li][/ul] [li] [left][size 2]While zebra mussels have not yet been found in South Carolina, they occur nearby (near Knoxville, Tennessee) and in these other states: Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. More information about their occurrence and distribution may be found here:[url "http://www.nationalatlas.gov/dynamic.html"] National Atlas Zebra Mussel Information[/url]
[/size][/left] [li] [left][size 2]The South Carolina Zebra Mussel Task Force, co-chaired by [url "http://www.dnr.sc.gov/"]South Carolina Department of Natural Resources[/url] and [url "http://www.scseagrant.org/"]South Carolina Sea Grant[/url] is striving to increase public awareness of the zebra mussel, prevent zebra mussel introduction, provide technical information on zebra mussel biology and control to water suppliers and water uses, and monitor sites throughout the State for early detection of zebra mussels.[/size] [/left][/li][/ul]

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[center][size 5]The Zebra Mussel Threat
[/size][url "mailto:pagec@dnr.sc.gov"][size 3]Click here to report a possible occurrence
of Zebra Mussels in South Carolina[/size][/url][size 3]![/size][/center]
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