The tail of a snail

The rice apple snail is one of the world’s top 100 worst invasive species. The reasons it is so ranked are its huge capacity to reproduce in great numbers year-round, its unfussy and d voracious eating habits, its ability y to withstand harsh environm ments, and its tendency to spread via many differe ent routes. It has a lung to breathe e air and a gill to sur rvive underwater. It canc withstand heat up to 32˚C and cold downd to -3˚C (although only for a couple of days). It can close its operculum, or snail door, over its open end and hibernate in mud for months if its wetlands dry up. The Catalan governme ent has spent in the region of €350m m trying to get to grips with it t, employing nets, pesticide es, lime, salt water and maanual removal, to little av vail. Its greatest preda ators, therefore, are not humans but fish, birds and mmammals – a good reaso on to encourage their presen nce in the Ebro Delta.