Walnut Bend Subdivision Lake System, Jacksonville, Duval County, Florida

      Acting on a tip from a fellow enthusiast, Brian Marshall, on 9/28/2009 this reporter visited an apparent man made lake system in the Walnut Bend Subdivision near the intersection of Walnut Bend and Huntington Forest Boulevard East off Old St. Augustine Road where Brian had recently reported finding a thriving Pomacea paludosa (Say, 1829) [Florida Applesnail] population while out exploring with his daughter.

    Upon arrival my arrival, a modest number of fresh Pomacea egg clutches were evident on shoreline structure immediately west of Huntington Forest Boulevard. Further investigation revealed a pair of live Pomacea feeding along the shoreline in shellow water. An apparent interconnected but somewhat less accessible lake on the east side of Huntington Forest Boulevard showed no obvious evidence of a breeding Pomacea population. However, an empty shell found on the shoreline indicates that the species is present there too - but probably in lesser numbers.

View of the lake where the egg clutches and live Pomacea were found