A Snail's Pace

The St. Paul Pioneer Press, among others, is reporting that the New Zealand mud snail (Potamopyrgus antipodarum) was discovered in Lake Superior, the first record for the invasive species in Minnesota. While this may sound alarming, considering how the snail has already spread throughout the Pacific Northwest, the scientist who made the discovery was not surprised. This was in part due to the fact that the species had already been found in the Great Lakes region - at the head of Lake Superior, in Ontario's Thunder Bay back in 2001. Note that this recent Minnesota discovery occurred last fall, but was just recently documented and reported.