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Drainage Ditch On Parental Home Rd., Southeastern Duval County, Florida |
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As part of an on-going project to formally document the presence of
Pomacea paludosa (Say,
1829) [Florida Applesnail]
in northeast Florida, a visit was made to a drainage ditch in a combined
commercial/residential area of southeastern Duval County on 8/4/2005.
The ditch in question runs west to east under Parental Home Road
immediately north of Drew Park and Southside Middle School and
ultimately flows into Pottsburg Creek. Upon arrival at the creek just to the west of Parental Home Road, Pomacea paludosa egg clutches were immediately evident on both bank vegetation and concrete debris in the creek itself indicating that a breeding population of Pomacea was present. Examination of one such egg clutch confirmed it was of current year's origin. However, a subsequent search failed to yield any actual Pomacea specimens - probably due in part to the discoloration of the water and the depth of the creek. A further investigation of the creek several hundred meters to the west of where the egg clutches were found (upstream) as well as to the east of Parental Home Road (downstream) failed to yield any further evidence of Pomacea which may indicate that the snails are confined to a relatively small area and the population is not large. The ditch water quality did not appear to be good and there was evidence that the water level fluctuated significantly (6-8 feet) dependant on the the amount of precipitation and subsequent run-off. |
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Looking East (downstream) Toward Parental Home Rd. |
Looking East (downstream) From Parental Home Rd. |
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Looking West (upstream) From Parental Home Rd. |
Pomacea Egg Clutches On Tree |
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