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Pomacea cf. insularum (d'Orbigny, 1837) At Arlington Park Cemetery Lake |
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During a visit to Tree Hill Nature Center on Lone Star Road in the
Arlington section of Jacksonville on November 7, 2007 to photograph
terrestrial snails, this reporter visited the small lake in the
Arlington Park Cemetery
- ostensibly to check for the presence of our native Pomacea
paludosa (Say, 1829) Florida Applesnail. This lake had been
investigated twice previously since 2005 and no evidence of any aquatic
species was seen at that time. However during this recent visit three
large relatively fresh Pomacea cf. insularum (d'Orbigny,
1837) egg clutches were found on a round concrete culvert at the extreme
north end of the lake thus indicating that a breeding population was
present. A cursory search of both the nearly dry ditch which feeds the lake as
well as the lake shoreline failed to yield any further egg clutches or
actual snails.
A second visit was made to the lake the
next day and the entire lake shoreline was examined more closely. No
additional egg clutches were found and no snails of any species were
seen. The area of the culvert was then dredged (including up to 12 feet
inside the culvert underneath the road) and no evidence of aquatic
mollusks was forthcoming. A third trip was made to the lake on 11/15/2007. The lake water level which had been high during the earlier visits, had returned to a more normal level. The remains of three additional egg clutches were found on vegetation some 20 feet from the culvert where the initial find was made. These egg clutches had been submerged and thus not visible during the two previous visits. Despite the lowered water level no Pomacea specimens could be located and It is believed that snail population in the lake is quite small and is the result of a recent introduction. The lake will be monitored on a periodic basis for further developments. |
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Concrete culvert at north end of the lake |
Culvert with one of the egg clutches visible |
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One of the three Pomacea cf. insularum egg clutches |
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