Dear Helmut,
I can not answer all your questions at once. However, here is some
information. First records of Otala from South America date back to
about 1840. All records are speaking of O. lactea, however, that is not
correct, because only O. punctata seems to have been introduced
overthere. It is a quite common species in the coastal area of
Uruguay and Argentina; from Brazil I know only a single locality.
In Argentina it is exploited on a commercial scale as a food item and
exported alive to many other countries. In this way O. punctata reached
most probably also the U.S.A. Now imports of living Otala are banned
in the U.S.A.: only in a canned form or deep frozen one is allowed to
import it (pers. info Dr. David Robinson).
In the U.S.A. O. lactea is the common species. It ranges from New York
south to Florida, throughout the southern states to California. Especially
in the south it seems to be quite commonly encountered in residential
areas. At the moment it is also being promoted for use in so-called
snail-farms
together with another introduced species from Europe: Cantareus aspersus
(formerly Helix aspersa), which will boost without doubt its spread even
more.
O. lactea is known from the U.S.A. since the third quarter of the 19th C.
Noteworthy is still the interesting fact that the Georgian populations seem
to belong to O. punctata and were present overthere before the imports
from Argentina started. The recently discovered population of punctata
in Florida (see Harry Lee's website) might be related however to fairly
recent imports.
I hope this answers most of the questions.
Best regards,
Henk K. Mienis
----- Original Message -----
From: helmut nisters <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, November 21, 2000 4:28 PM
Subject: AW: Re: AW: Re: Otala in the Americas


> Dear Henk,
>
> how many answers you got for Otala lactea in America. When should this
> species being introduced.
> How many localities are there at the moment. Seems to be not very common
> there. As I have
> followed the list there might be only a few localities.
> with best shelling greetings
> Helmut
>
>
> Helmut "Helix" Nisters
> private:
> Franz-Fischer-Str. 46
> A-6020 Innsbruck / Austria / Europe
> phone: 0043 / 512 / 57 32 14
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> website: www.netwing.at/nisters
> office:
> Natural History Department of the
> Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum Innsbruck
> Feldstrasse 11a
> A-6020 Innsbruck / Austria / Europe
> phone: 0043 / 512 / 58 72 86 - 37
> e-mail: [log in to unmask]
> website: www.tiroler-landesmuseum.at
>
>