The easiest way to prevent mudsnails from spreading is to avoid water contact when possible. However, if your activities include water contact, you can follow these simple steps to reduce the chances of spreading this invader to another stream:

The Basics:

  • 1: Don't be a carrier!
  • Avoid transferring anything wet (especially, waders, boots, and gear) from stream to stream.
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  • 2: Keep it DRY!
  • After every trip to a stream or lake, remove all mud and debris, visually inspect, and completely dry your belongings. If you can, put your wet things in the dryer on high heat for a minimum of 2 hours. Air drying your belongings at temperatures of at least 85°F for 24 -48 hours will also kill mudsnails.

These are the easiest, and most basic things you can do to prevent the spread of New Zealand Mudsnails and prevent the introduction of other invasive species into our local waterways.

Visit more often?

If you frequently visit lakes and streams, (e.g., you are a stream researcher, monitoring crew, watershed survey group, and others who access streams and lakes regularly), you should refer to "How to Prevent the Spread of New Zealand Mudsnails through Field Gear" produced by Oregon Sea Grant.

This guide provide more detailed information on currently accepted methods for treating gear and preventing the spread of mudsnails.

It only takes one snail to infest a waterbody! Please help protect our creeks and streams!

Resources - Mudsnails in Southern California

Snail Invader Found in Malibu Creek Watershed
Heal the Bay's Stream Team

Heal the Bay's Stream Team first discovered the presence of the New Zealand Mud-snail in May 2006. Their news page provides some information on their monitoring program and the sites at which they have found New Zealand Mudsnails in the Malibu Creek and Topanga Creek watersheds.

Santa Monica Mountains New Zealand Mudsnail Survey
Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission and Heal the Bay (PDF: 5.35 MB)

In 2006, a comprehensive "snail survey" team visited 44 sites in the Santa Monica Mountains, monitoring for the presence of New Zealand Mudsnails. The survey confirmed that while the New Zealand mudsnail has established itself in three streams within the Malibu Creek watershed, many of the watershed's streams are not yet infested. The survey also found no evidence to indicate they have spread to other Santa Monica Mountain watersheds at this time.

Learning More about Mudsnails

New Zealand Mudsnails in the Western United States
Montana State University

This site is one of the most comprehensive internet sources of information on the New Zealand Mudsnail, and looks specifically at infestations in the Western United States. The site has lots of information on snail biology, and detailed information on how to identify New Zealand Mudsnails. The site is hosted from the Department of Ecology at Montana State University-Bozeman.

CA Department of Fish and Game: New Zealand Mudsnails
California Department of Fish and Game

This site provides general information about New Zealand Mudsnails, maps of infested waterbodies in California, and provides some printable posters and flyers with information and tips on how to prevent the spread of mudsnails.

Potamopyrgus antipodarum - New Zealand Mud Snail
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

This basic webpage provides lots of pictures of the New Zealand Mudsnails, and a detailed report on their biology and vectors of spread.

What you can do about Mudsnails

How to Prevent the Spread of New Zealand Mudsnails through Field Gear
Oregon Sea Grant

This brochure, produced by Oregon Sea Grant, is intended as a guide for professionals (researchers, monitoring crews, watershed survey groups) and other avid users (fishers, avid hikers) who frequently travel in streams and lakes. The brochure provides detailed information on how to clean and treat gear, and how to identify New Zealand Mudsnails.

Protect Your Waters
Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force

This webpage provides a list of four simple tips for preventing the spread of aquatic nuisance species (another name for invasive species that live in water), including the New Zealand Mudsnail. Protect Your Waters is part of the Stop Aquatic Hitchhikers web site, produced by the ANS Task Force public awareness campaign and sponsored by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Coast Guard.

HACCP for Natural Resource Pathways
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (or HACCP) is a method developed by the US FDA to prevent food-borne illnesses, and is now being adopted by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to control vectors of spread of invasive species. This training manual is used by FWS to train resource managers in HACCP planning and techniques.

Mudsnail PSA (Available Soon)
Resource Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains (RCDSMM)

This PSA was produced by the RCDSMM to inform the public about the threat of the New Zealand Mudsnail, and what they could do to prevent its spread. The PSA is available in both English and Spanish.

spread over 20 yearsGraphic: printed with permission from esg.montana.edu

First discovered in the Snake River in Idaho in the 1980s, over the last 20 years, the New Zealand Mudsnail has spread west and south; it is now found in all of the western states except for New Mexico. One of the most recent discoveries of New Zealand Mudsnail was in the Malibu Creek watershed in the Santa Monica Mountains.