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Mill Dam Branch On Baymeadows Rd. East, Southeastern Duval County, Florida |
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As part of an on-going project to formally document the presence of
Pomacea paludosa (Say,
1829) [Florida Applesnail]
in northeast Florida, on June 21, 2006 an exploratory visit was made to
a formerly difficult to access area on Baymeadows Road East -
immediately east of Interstate 295. Rapid development of this area along
with the associated road construction had enabled easy access. The
initial location visited was a concrete bridge/culvert over Mill Dam
Branch near
the intersection of Baymeadows Road East and Gate Parkway.
While no evidence of Pomacea was initially observed, a more
thorough investigation revealed a single egg clutch on aquatic
vegetation near the downstream side of the culvert. Following the
waterway upstream for about 150 yards, two additional egg clutches were
soon discovered. A return visit to the site was made on April 6, 2007
and two small empty Pomacea shells were found. On 1/29/2017, some ten years later, the upstream portion of the waterway west of Interstate 295 near Point Meadows Drive was surveyed and a single small live Pomacea was found thus confirming that the entire drainage system houses a Pomacea population. Unlike most waterways in southeastern Duval County which flow into the St. Johns River, the waterways east of Interstate 295 flow into the intracoastal waterway. |
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Location Where The First Pomacea Egg Clutch Was Found |
Pomacea Egg Clutch In Situ |
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| Upstream portion of the creek surveyed on 1/29/2017 | Single live Pomacea specimen found on 11/29/2017 |
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