Snake River Snot

The Jackson Hole Daily is reporting that didymo (Didymosphenia geminata, or "rock snot") has been discovered in the state of Wyoming. The discovery of the algae in Lake Creek was made by USGS researchers sampling tributaries of the Snake River this past summer. This is only the second sighting of the algae in Wyoming, the first being in the Popo Agie River in 2006 (see related article in this newsletter from the Lander Region Angler News). Unfortunately, a planned survey of the Snake River has been called off to river conditions. For now, the Snake River Fund has stepped up, working with the US Forest Service and with other non-governmental organizations to set up washing stations at boat ramps in the area. As there is currently no known way to eliminate didymo infestations, keeping it from spreading is the best tool they have for managing the invasive algae.

New and Notable

Some interesting new arrivals in the USA, courtesy of the USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Alert System:

• Congratulations to Georgia, the recipient of the Australian tubeworm Ficopomatus enigmaticus - only the second record of this species on the East Coast of the US (discovered May 2006).
• As of August 2006, Maine's got yellow floating heart (Nymphoides peltata) - a whole ton of it covering a pond in Rockport. I guess it's not that surprising since until this record, Maine was the only state in the Northeast US without this aquatic plant.
• Wyoming's got an established population of red-rim melania (Melanoides tuberculatus) in Grand Teton National Park (since June 2006). The mollusk was apparently introduced to the US via the aquarium industry.
• Finally, and as usual, Puerto Rico brings us some new country-level records from the aquarium world:
  • Leopard plecos (Glyptoperichthys gibbiceps) - pretty sure we used to have these in the family fish tank when I was growing up.
  • Chinese algae eaters (Gyrinocheilus aymonieri) - definitely had these, I remember they were jumpers too (used to find them dried up in the carpet - yech!)

Muddy River

The New Zealand mud snail (Potamopyrgus antipodarum) continues to spread in Wyoming, according to this story in the Billings Gazette. Though the prolific snails have been spotted in several western states since the mid-1990s, its appearance in the Bighorn River is its first appearance in Wyoming outside of Yellowstone National Park. Scientists, who are speculating that the snails were introduced via contaminated angling gear, have begun an assessment to determine the extent of the invasion.