A tiny New Zealand snail is threatening a multi-billion dollar sport fishing economy after it was found in the Great Lakes of North America.
The tiny New Zealand mudsnail, which can boom to phenomenal densities, has been found thriving in Michigan for the first time.
It was spotted by an aquatic biologist on a floating trip down the Pere Marquette River in August, reported the Detroit Free Press.
"I thought, 'There are a lot of really small snails here. I wonder what they are? I haven't seen anything like this before'," said Sarah LeSage who works for the Aquatic Invasive Species Program Coordinator with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.
Samples confirmed they were the New Zealand mudsnail - an invasive freshwater species that can reproduce asexually and at staggering levels.