Learn & Explore/Species/Introduced & Invasive/Apple Snail

Apple Snail

Category: Invasive

A fast-spreading snail that eats aquatic plants and harms Hawaiʻi’s ecosystems and crops.

Apple Snail (Pomacea canaliculata)

  • Snails that attain sizes slightly smaller than a golf ball 1

  • Shell color varies from yellow to brown, typically with dark spiral bands 1

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Habitat

Found in freshwater systems such as wetlands and agricultural areas 1

Impacts & Concern

  • Competes with native species for resources and feeds on aquatic plants

  • Causes damage to taro and rice crops by chewing through plants and creating holes for bacteria to enter 1

Introduction

  • First introduced as a local food source and spread too quickly to control 1

  • Most likely spread to Hawaiʻi through aquarium release 1

Distribution in Hawai‘i

  • Kauaʻi: Present

  • Oʻahu: Present

  • Molokaʻi: Not documented

  • Lānaʻi: Present

  • Maui: Present

  • Hawaiʻi Island: Not documented

References

  1. Daniel, W. M. (2021) Pomacea canaliculata (Lamarck, 1828): U.S. Geological Survey, Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database, Gainesville, FL. https://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/FactSheet.aspx?speciesID=980

  2. Global Invasive Species Database. (2021.) Species profile: Pomacea canaliculata. [Dataset] https://www.iucngisd.org/gisd/species.php?sc=135 on 05-05-2021

Other Introduced & Invasive

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Marine

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Freshwater

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Brackish

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Seaweed/Algae