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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Stuttgart, Arkansas » Harry K. Dupree Stuttgart National Aquaculture Research Cntr » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #217436
Title: Survival of the faucet snail Bithynia tentaculata after chemical disinfection, pH extremes, and heated water bath treatments

Author
item Mitchell, Andrew
item COLE, REBECCA - USGS

Submitted to: North American Journal of Fisheries Management
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/16/2008
Publication Date: 11/3/2008
Citation: Mitchell, A.J., Cole, R. 2008. Survival of the faucet snail Bithynia tentaculata after chemical disinfection, pH extremes, and heated water bath treatments. North American Journal of Fisheries Management. 28:1597-1600.

Interpretive Summary: The purpose of this study was to develop a method to disinfect nets that would kill all faucet snails (a very small, exotic and aquatic snail capable of withstanding days of desiccation). Chemical disinfection, pH extreme, and heated water bath treatments were tested and the faucet snail found to be very resistant to most of these treatments. The snails were highly resistant to ethanol, NaCl, formalin, Lysol, potassium permanganate, copper sulfate, Bacquacil, Virkon, household bleach, and to waters adjusted to pH values as low as 1 and as high as 13. Two treatments, Hydrothol 191 at 20 mg/L or more for 24-h exposure and a heated water treatment of 50°C for 1 min or longer, eliminated all test snails. Of these two, only the heated water treatment is considered practical for use in fisheries applications.

Technical Abstract: Bithynia tentaculata, the faucet snail, is a non indigenous aquatic snail from Eurasia that was introduced into Lake Michigan in 1871. The snail’s distribution in the United States has expanded to the mid-Atlantic states and the drainage basin of the Great Lakes and most recently to the Mississippi River. It is also present at some sites in Montana. The snail serves as intermediate host for several trematodes, which have caused large scale mortalities among waterbirds, primarily in the Great Lakes Region and in Montana. It is important to limit the spread of the faucet snail from infested waters to waters free of the snail; small fisheries equipment can serve as a method of snail distribution. Chemical disinfection, pH extreme, and heated water bath treatments were tested to determine their effectiveness as a disinfectant for small fisheries equipment. The faucet snail was found to be very resistant to most treatments tested. Two treatments, Hydrothol 191 at 20 mg/L or more for 24-h exposure and a heated water treatment of 50°C for 1 min or longer, eliminated all test snails. The snails were highly resistant to ethanol, NaCl, formalin, Lysol, potassium permanganate, copper sulfate, Bacquacil, Virkon, household bleach, and to waters adjusted to pH values as low as 1 and as high as 13.