By Kevin Laframboise
Lake Vernon, one of the four chain lakes in the Huntsville area, has a new, unwelcome, alien in its waterway – the Chinese mystery snail.
The Chinese mystery snail (Cipangopaludina chinensis) – is one of three invasive freshwater aquatic snail species in Ontario – has been identified in Lake Vernon and at the Camp Kitchen beach area of Fairy Lake; (reported in 2020) and is likely making its way into other connected waterways.
The Lake Vernon Association (LVA) is fighting back, with a multi-year Invasive Species Awareness and Management Plan to address the Chinese mystery snail and other invasive species that may pose a risk to Lake Vernon. This summer, just over 16,000 Chinese mystery snails were collected and eradicated during several LVA-sponsored “Snails in Pails” events. These collection events were conducted under a Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) license, issued to the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters (OFAH), the coordinating authority. In the coming years, the LVA also plans to coordinate its efforts with the adjoining lake Associations of Fairy Lake, Mary Lake, and Peninsula Lake.
Photos by the Lake Vernon Association
To support its multi-year initiative, the LVA applied for and received a micro-grant from Ontario’s MNRF-funded Invasive Species Centre – Invasive Species Action Fund (ISAF). ISAF empowers community groups, Indigenous organizations, and municipalities to take action on critical invasive species, including invasive plants, aquatic invasive species, and forest pests.
What is this Aquatic Invasive Species
The Chinese mystery snail is an invasive freshwater aquatic snail. Originally introduced to continental North America as a food item in San Francisco in the 1890s, the Chinese mystery snail has since spread throughout the United States and Canada. Once they have become established in an ecosystem, this invasive species often outcompetes native mollusks (i.e., clams and snails) and other filter feeders for food (i.e., algae and plankton) and habitat, potentially disrupting the aquatic food chain and leading to negative lake ecosystem impacts. They may also carry parasites that can affect waterfowl.
Typical Physical Description:
- The Chinese mystery snail has a hard operculum (i.e., trapdoor) that they close when threatened and are prolific breeders. Females can live up to five years and produce up to one hundred juvenile snails per brooding season. Juveniles are born as fully independent, hard-shelled snails, typically between June and October. Due to their biology and lack of natural predators, they are particularly invasive and hard to eradicate once they become established.
- Six to seven centimeters in length.
- Olive green in colour but can range from muted shades of greenish brown to reddish brown.
- Six – seven whorls.
- They can survive out of water for days by closing their “trapdoor” operculum.
Check out the Invasive Species Centre to learn more about the Chinese mystery snail: https://www.invasivespeciescentre.ca/chinese-mystery-snail/
What Can We Do?
- Prevent the spread of invasive species:
- It is Provincial law that boats (including kayaks, canoes and sailboats, and associated trailers) need to be Cleaned, Drained and Dry (or washed) before transported it to another body of water.
- The same care should be taken when transposing docks, boat lifts/ ramps, and water toys from one lake to another.
- Never dispose of aquarium / pond – water, fish, or plants into the lake.
- Observe and Report -if you suspect an invasive species, please report it by:
- Report sitings to your Lake Association’s Environmental co-ordinator; and
- Contact the Invading Species Hotline 1-800-563-7111 or
- Online reporting via the EDDMapS website
- Raise your concerns to your municipal councillors and work with your Lake Association to appropriately collect and remove them.
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