A Snail returns from death

Oh Oblong Snail, where hast thou been?

By Daniel L. Bamberg

Daniel@Centrevillepress.com

In 2000 the Oblong Rock Snail was declared extinct.  Typical to a snail, it took its time to argue the point.  The snail has been alive and well and thriving between Bibb and Shelby Counties.

Nathan Weland, a University of Alabama graduate student recently discovered the species following an investigation, which began with a kayak trip.

“To be able to find a species that was thought to be extinct is always encouraging, especially considering biodiversity and conservation stories are not typically positive these days,” said Weland. 

His discovery has created a buzz in conservationist and scientific communities.  The story was recently featured in PLOS ONE, a notable scientific journal. 

The snails were last collected more than three-quarters of a century ago.  With so much pollution from coal mining and steel manufacturing along the Cahaba, once the snails became scarcer, the thought was they had vanished completely.

Whelan had a hunch and convinced friends to take a kayak trip down the Cahaba River seeking out an area where the species had been most prevalent.  According to Whelan they found the snail quickly into the trip.  Upon collecting what they believed was the Oblong Rock Snail they had to match the critter with a specimen captured in 1881, which was stored at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History.  Of all things, the snail was match of dental records, sort of.  The snail’s teeth, called radulas are specific to the species and are used to scrape algae off of river rock for food.  The teeth were a match.

Whelen does not know for sure how many of the Rock Snails are around, but suggested that there is an abundance of them in the location of the Cahaba, which falls between Bibb and Shelby counties.  This is a smaller but centralized area from which the species once thrived along a 50 plus mile stretch between Helena and Centreville. 

The species was once, and is now again unique to the Cahaba River basin.  The Cahaba River is one of the most biologically diverse aquatic areas in the United States according to the Nature Conservancy.  With 121 different species of fish, 38 species of mussels, and 32 species of snails, and the wondrously rare Cahaba Lilly to boot, scientists and conservationists alike study the river regularly.  12 of these species are listed as either threatened or endangered.

The Bibb / Shelby County area of the river is one of the most untouched areas, and held in high regard among those with a professional appreciation for such biodiversity.

Whelen believes that the Clean Water Act has helped steer the species back.  Though the news has created some excitement, the species is still endangered.  This is why there are efforts to study how the snail reproduces in hopes of getting the species off the endangered list.  

(Photo) The once declared extinct Oblong Rock Snail is back from the dead.  Discovered by University of Alabama graduate student, Nathan Weland, the snail has been thriving in a colony located around the Bibb and Shelby County line along the Cahaba River.