Snail
Chinese Mysterysnail
Cipangopaludina chinensis
These illustrations are AI-generated, not photographs, and are not to scale. They show what to look for; they are not a substitute for an expert identification.
How to identify it
Size: Shell up to about 2.5 inches tall, about the size of a golf ball.
- A large, round, globe-shaped shell.
- A smooth olive-green to brown shell with no bands.
- A hard lid with rings like a tree stump that closes the opening.
- Often noticed when empty shells wash up on a beach.
Don’t confuse it with
The banded mysterysnail is smaller and has reddish-brown bands. Most native lake snails in Michigan are much smaller.
Where it came from
Native to eastern Asia.
Brought to North America in the late 1800s for food markets, and later sold for aquariums and water gardens. Releases from those sources are thought to explain many populations.
Earliest dated Michigan record: 1938, a fish farm in Holly, Oakland County. This is the oldest dated record in the USGS non-native species database, not necessarily when it first arrived.
Why it matters
It can reach very high numbers, compete with native snails and carry parasites. Large die-offs leave piles of shells along the shore.
Michigan law
Not on Michigan's list of prohibited or restricted species. The boating and bait rules below still apply to everyone.
If you find it
- Don’t move it. Michigan law requires boaters to remove all aquatic plants from boats, equipment and trailers before launching. Before trailering, you must pull all drain plugs, drain live wells and bilges, and make sure the boat and trailer are free of aquatic plants and animals. What the law requires
- Never release bait. Releasing baitfish into Michigan waters is illegal. Put unused bait in the trash, never in the water.
- Report it. Take a photo, note where you saw it, and report it to the Midwest Invasive Species Information Network (MISIN) or through Michigan’s invasive species program. Experts there can confirm what you found.
- Ask before removing or treating. Treating a lake with herbicides or other chemicals needs a state permit, and some removal work does too. Start with the state’s Aquatic Nuisance Control program before taking action.
Michigan lakes where it has been recorded
31 Michigan lakes on this site have a record of this species.
Baraga
Cass
Cheboygan
Clare
Dickinson
Gogebic
Hillsdale
Ingham
Iron
Jackson
Kalamazoo
Kent
Lake
Lapeer
Lenawee
Livingston
Newaygo
Oakland
Ogemaw
Roscommon
Van Buren
Wexford
A lake that is not listed may still have it. Records exist only where someone found the species and reported it, so “not recorded” does not mean “not present.”
Lake records: Midwest Glacial Lakes Partnership Conservation Planner; underlying records from the USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species database.
Sources
- USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species: Chinese mysterysnail fact sheet
- Midwest Invasive Species Information Network: Chinese mystery snail
Earliest dated record: USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species database.