Report Invasive Applesnails

Native to the Amazon River, giant applesnails (Pomacea maculata) were widely sold in pet stores until the Mississippi Department of Agriculture learned of the damage they could cause. An emergency regulation was issued in 2001 to protect the state's rice crop. In addition to destroying rice fields, voracious, plant-eating giant applesnails can also strip lakes and marshes of ecologically important aquatic vegetation.

Applesnail related challenges:
Strips marshes of vegetation
Changes plant community to algal-based
Accumulation of algal biotoxins
Carrier of rat lungworm parasite
Predator of amphibian eggs
Millions of dollars of damage to rice crops in Asia
Louisiana farmer lost 220 acres of crawfish production
Limited control options

Please help us by reporting sightings of Applesnails and their eggs.