New Hampshire’s nearly 1,000 lakes and ponds are some of the cleanest and healthiest in the country, but they are not immune to threats big and small, according to Andrea LaMoreaux, president of the publicly funded nonprofit organization NH Lakes.
For many years, invasive plants like milfoil have been top of mind for lake-lovers, but more recently NH Lakes has been working to help prevent the spread of invasive animals.
“There are two in particular that we're trying to help keep out of our lakes,” says LaMoreaux. “The Chinese mystery snail, and the spiny water flea.”
Unlike most snails that lay eggs on rocks or plants, female Chinese mystery snails are able to give birth to live, fully developed young, as small as a grain of rice. “So you may have a Chinese mystery snail in a bucket,” LaMoreaux says, “and you come back a while later, and there'll be more than one in there.”
Wildlife experts estimate that they may produce as many as 170 snails in their lifetime.
In addition to reproducing rapidly, the snails are able to survive being removed from water for several days, thanks to their operculum, a small, hard plate attached to the snail's foot that acts like a trapdoor to seal the shell.
LaMoreaux says the Chinese mystery snail has likely been in New Hampshire since around 1980.
“We don't even know how many lakes they're in. But we do know they compete with our native snails.”
Spiny Water Flea
“The spiny water flea probably hitchhiked from the Great Lakes, from lake to lake, eventually into New Hampshire's lakes,” LaMoreaux says. “It has now been documented in three of our lakes: Winnipesaukee, Newfound and Winnisquam.”
LaMoreaux says the spiny water fleas are not fleas but are tiny crustaceans, much like a miniature shrimp with an elongated tail, about a quarter to a half-inch.
“They're not going to bite you. They're not going to bite your dog,” she says. “But there's reason to be concerned these spiny water fleas can impact the food web. They eat the smallest organisms that the small fish rely on, and when the small fish don't have any food, that creates a problem for the other fish in the food web.”
Preventing populations from growing
LaMoreaux says once spiny water fleas or Chinese mystery snails get into a lake, there's not much that can be done. So NH Lakes is focused on prevention.
“Boaters and anglers going between water bodies are encouraged to clean, drain and dry their gear to remove any hitchhikers, to remove any fragments of plants or tiny animals and even drops of water,” she says.
NH Lakes has been operating a statewide voluntary boat inspection program for 25 years.
“We are at about 100 of the most highly used boat ramps every summer,” LaMoreaux says. “We have lots of conversations at the boat ramp. In our 25 years, we've met over 1.7 million boaters and prevented, picked off, detected, stopped over 1500 fragments of invasive species or animals.”
Andrea LaMoreaux is the president of NH Lakes, a nonprofit working to restore and preserve the health of New Hampshire's lakes.
Something Wild is a partnership of NH Audubon, the Forest Society, and NHPR.
