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Daedalochila auriculata (Say, 1818) Ocala Liptooth At Western Twelve Mile Swamp Wildlife Management Area Entrance, St. Johns County, Florida |
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On September 15,
2009, this reporter visited the western entrance road to the Twelve Mile Swamp
Wildlife Management Area on
the south side of International Golf Parkway (also known as Nine Mile Road) between
Interstate 95 and US-1 in St. Johns County while engaged in an ongoing
project to locate additional sites housing a population of
Daedalochila auriculata. Immediately upon arrival, a single empty Daedalochila auriculata shell was spotted in low vegetation immediately adjacent to a small pond on the west side of the dirt entrance road (GPS: 29.59225N 081.26006W - WGS-84 Datum). A more detailed search yielded an additional four specimens including one living adult. A search was then conducted on the eastern side of the entrance road and a single live juvenile was found there as well. A follow-up visit was made to the site on 9/18/2009 and three additional Daedalochila specimens were found to include an additional living adult. The site was revisited on 10/11/2009 and the north side of the road was surveyed - an area that had been checked during two previous visits with no evidence of Daedalochila found. However, the old idiom "Third time's the charm" proved to be true and two living Daedalochila auriculata were found in the muddy lower roadside swale as well as a small alligator that put on an impressive splash filled show as it attempted to exit the area. This new Daedalochila discovery at the wildlife management area entrance is about 1.25 miles southwest of the other Daedalochila auriculata habitat within Twelve Mile Swamp. |
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Entrance to the wildlife management area where the Daedalochila were found (9/18/2009) |
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