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The snail extinction prevention program (SEPP) or Hawai’i snail extinction program, is a program founded in 2012 and currently directed by David R. SischoFor staff list see https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/ecosystems/sepp/. that is trying to prevent the extinction of Hawai’i’s many rare snails such as ''
One of the ways the SEPP tries to save those rare snails is by keeping them in an fenced and constantly monitored enclosure in the Hawaiian forest that keeps them away from invasive snails, such as the Rosy WolfsnailRosy Wolfsnails are the main threat to native snails and other introduced predators, such as the
The walls of the SEPP snail enclosures includes a smooth lined wall to prevent chameleons, a steel fence, protected with a rim to ensure wolfsnails do not climb over the fence. Behind the steel fence, there are electric wires to prevent any wolfsnails that do get in from swallowing the native snails whole.
/ref> a species thought to be extinct since the 1980s. The SEPP decided to leave them alone, but later when they went to collect the snails for the lab they were gone, possibly swallowed whole by rosy wolfsnails.
The snail extinction prevention program (SEPP) or Hawai’i snail extinction program, is a program founded in 2012 and currently directed by David R. SischoFor staff list see https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/ecosystems/sepp/. that is trying to prevent the extinction of Hawai’i’s many rare snails such as ''Achatinella
''Achatinella'' is a tropical genus of colorful land snails in the monotypic Achatinellidae subfamily Achatinellinae.
Species are arboreal pulmonate gastropod mollusks with some species called Oʻahu tree snails or kāhuli in the Hawaiian langua ...
'' and snails of the family Amastridae
Amastridae is a Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic family (biology), family of small, air-breathing, land snails, Terrestrial animal, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Pupilloidea.MolluscaBase eds. (2021). MolluscaBase. Amast ...
. (official web page for Snail Extinction Prevention Program)
Actions taken
Snail enclosures
One of the ways the SEPP tries to save those rare snails is by keeping them in an fenced and constantly monitored enclosure in the Hawaiian forest that keeps them away from invasive snails, such as the Rosy WolfsnailRosy Wolfsnails are the main threat to native snails and other introduced predators, such as the Jackson's chameleon
Jackson's chameleon (''Trioceros jacksonii''), also known commonly as Jackson's horned chameleon, the three-horned chameleon, and the Kikuyu three-horned chameleon, is a species of chameleon, a lizard in the family Chamaeleonidae. The species i ...
, the land flatworm
Platyhelminthes (from the Greek language, Greek πλατύ, ''platy'', meaning "flat" and ἕλμινς (root: ἑλμινθ-), ''helminth-'', meaning "worm") is a Phylum (biology), phylum of relatively simple bilaterian, Segmentation (biology), ...
''Platydemus manokwari
''Platydemus manokwari'', also known as the New Guinea flatworm, is a species of large predatory land flatworm.
Native to New Guinea, it has been accidentally introduced to the soil of many countries, including the United States. It was als ...
'', and black rat
The black rat (''Rattus rattus''), also known as the roof rat, ship rat, or house rat, is a common long-tailed rodent of the stereotypical rat genus ''Rattus'', in the subfamily Murinae. It likely originated in the Indian subcontinent, but is n ...
s.
Enclosure walls
The walls of the SEPP snail enclosures includes a smooth lined wall to prevent chameleons, a steel fence, protected with a rim to ensure wolfsnails do not climb over the fence. Behind the steel fence, there are electric wires to prevent any wolfsnails that do get in from swallowing the native snails whole.
Lab snails
The SEPP also keeps snails in a laboratory in, Kawainui Marsh,Oahu
Oahu (, , sometimes written Oahu) is the third-largest and most populated island of the Hawaiian Islands and of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital, Honolulu, is on Oahu's southeast coast. The island of Oahu and the uninhabited Northwe ...
, Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...
.
Evacuation
In 2018 Hurricane Lane approached the lab and the snails that lived in the lab had to be evacuated. There are ongoing concerns about future evacuation problems since as of 2022 there are over five thousand snails living in the lab, while there were fewer snails living in the lab in 2020.In 2020, when Hurricane Douglas approached the area the snails also had to be evacuated.''Achatinella pupukanioe''
In 2015, the SEPP team found a tree full of '' Achatinella pupukanioe'',Image of live ''Achatinella pupukanioe'', Flickr.com/ref> a species thought to be extinct since the 1980s. The SEPP decided to leave them alone, but later when they went to collect the snails for the lab they were gone, possibly swallowed whole by rosy wolfsnails.
Notes
See also
* ''Achatinella
''Achatinella'' is a tropical genus of colorful land snails in the monotypic Achatinellidae subfamily Achatinellinae.
Species are arboreal pulmonate gastropod mollusks with some species called Oʻahu tree snails or kāhuli in the Hawaiian langua ...
''
* ''Partulina
''Partulina'' is a genus of tropical air-breathing land snails, terrestrial animal, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Achatinellidae.
Species
Species within the genus ''Partulina'' include:
* ''Partulina confusa''
*†''Part ...
''
* '' Achatinella pupukanioe''
* ''Euglandina rosea
''Euglandina rosea'', the rosy wolfsnail or cannibal snail, is a species of medium-sized to large predatory air-breathing land snail, a carnivorous terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Spiraxidae.MolluscaBase eds. (2020). Mollus ...
''
* Amastridae
Amastridae is a Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic family (biology), family of small, air-breathing, land snails, Terrestrial animal, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Pupilloidea.MolluscaBase eds. (2021). MolluscaBase. Amast ...
References
External links
{{Reflist, group=External link * Environmental issues in Hawaii