Chapter 2 The Need for Conservation
Appendix 2-5
Success Story 5 — How Conservation Actions Help Protect Species
Magnificent Ramshorn
The Magnificent Ramshorn snail is a large air-breathing snail that lives in fresh water; they have lungs that allow them to extract oxygen from both air and water. They can grow up to 35 mm (1.4 in) wide and 20 mm (0.8 in) tall and have tan to brown shells with leopard-like spots. Their shells are relatively thin, and the fleshy bodies found beneath the shells are usually maroon in color. This snail is an imperiled species (federally listed as Endangered) found nowhere else in the world (e.g., endemic) outside of the lower Cape fear River Basin in North Carolina. Much of their native habitat has been degraded by human development, including contaminants carried by stormwater and other pollutants.
In 1996 Hurricane Fran blasted North Carolina’s coast and the subsequent salt-water intrusion and flood waters put the snail at risk of extinction. At that time, there were two distinct wild populations known from Orton Pond and Big Pond in Brunswick County. Andy Wood, formerly a member of the NCWRC’s Non-game Wildlife Advisory Committee (NWAC), was holding some individuals in captivity at his home and braved the storm to rescue as many snails as
Magnificent Ramshorn (NCWRC)
possible from the hurricane. He was able to save 25 snails and bring them inside until the storm passed. Over the next couple of years, Wood’s conservation efforts included setting up several 300-gallon tank ecosystems that functioned as a preserve for the snails and contributed to an increase in the captive population. Unfortunately, the small remaining wild population continued to decline, mostly due to continued loss of their limited habitat and degradation of water quality. Until recently, Magnificent Ramshorn was extirpated from the wild, with the last wild individual being observed in 2004. Captive populations now exist at the Conservation Aquaculture Center at NCWRC’s Marion Fish Hatchery and at the NCSU Yates Mill Aquatic Conservation Center. Commission biologists were able to study their feeding and reproductive requirements. Magnificent Ramshorn snails are
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2025 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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