Skip to main content

Potamopyrgus antipodarum - New Zealand mud snail

Current distribution Potamopyrgus antipodarum (J. E. Gray, 1843) (4590 OBIS-datapoints, 173355 GBIF-datapoints)
The New Zealand mud snail Potamopyrgus antipodarum originally occurs in New Zealand, but was transported to Europe around 1859 in barrels of drinking water. The little snails must have got into (and out) the barrels while washing or refilling them. The first Belgian observations of the species date from 1927, in the Scheldt near Antwerp. The species occurs in fresh to (slightly) brackish water. New Zealand mud snails can reproduce asexually by parthenogenesis very quickly.