• The Korean Journal of Malacology
• /
• v.16 no.1_2
• /
• pp.21-24
• /
• 2000

The apple snails of the genus Pomacea have been introduced by the snail breeders illegally into Korea. Authors confirmed that the natural life cycle of at least two pomacean species, Pomacea canaliculata and P. insularus, has been already settled down locally in the southern areas of Korea.

• The Korean Journal of Malacology
• /
• v.26 no.1
• /
• pp.45-49
• /
• 2010

Up until now, we have identified 17 exotic species of Mollusca in Korea. These include Achatina (Lissachatina) fulica, Limax flavus, Limax marginatus, Deroceras reticulatum, Hawaiia minuscula, Zonitoides yessoensis, Zonitoides arboreus, Physa acuta, Pomacea canaliculata, Pomacea insularus, Crepidula (Crepidula) onyx, Mytilus galloprovincialis, Xenotrobus securis, Perna viridis, Argopecten irradians irradians, Pinctada fucata, and Pinctada margaritifera. Among them Achatina (Lissachatina) fulica, Pomacea canaliculata, Pomacea insularus, Argopecten irradians irradians, Pinctada fucata, and Pinctada margaritifera were intentionally introduced, whereas remainings were unintentionally introduced into Korean fauna. These foreign species can be divided into three groups on the basis of their habitats: A. fulica, L. flavus, L. marginatus, D. reticulatum, H. minuscula, Z. yessoensis, and Z. arboreus in terrestrial habitat; P. acuta, P. canaliculata, and P. insularus in fresh water; and C. onyx, M. galloprovincialis, L. fortuneikikuchii, P. viridis, A. irradiansirradians, P. fucata, and P. margaritifera in sea water. Taxanomically, 11 species belong to Gastropoda, whereas 6 species are classified to Bivalvia.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
• /
• v.26 no.3
• /
• pp.129-137
• /
• 2008

Alien apple snails (Pomacea canaliculata, Pomacea insularus) used in environmentally-friendly agriculture are different from indigenous snails found in Korea. Due to high herbicidal effects and cost-effectiveness, the number of farmers using the snails has been growing every year since 2000. Moreover, in 2008, because of the outbreaks of avian influenza throughout the country from March to May, 2008, central and local governments recommended the use of alien apple snails in agriculture as an alternative to the ducks-oriented environmentally-friendly agriculture. Therefore, it is expected that the use of alien apple snails in agriculture should be expanded in a near future. Since alien apple snails lay eggs with 95.8% of eclosion rate, they are considered to be potential pests unlike indigenous snails. In addition, Japan, Taiwan and most of the southeast Asian countries had already experienced severe ecological and agricultural damage by the alien apple snails. Subsequently, International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) designated P. canaliculata as one of "the 100 of the world's worst invasive alien species". It seems highly likely that the alien apple snails in Korea pose a potential threat to conservation of ecosystem and biodiversity since the snails were either found or invaded into the natural environments in some regions of Gangwon-Do and southern parts of Korean Peninsula. However, just recently, agricultural authorities and farmers using alien apple snails in agriculture opposed a proposition of designating the alien apple snails as an ecosystem-disturbing animal described by the Wildlife Protection Act. This is because there has been no concrete evidence of the ecological risk imposed by the alien snails up to now in Korea. Subsequently, in this paper, we analysed the ecological and agricultural risks imposed by the alien snails from the studies done in domestic and abroad. In addition, we proposed an urgent need and reasoning for ecological risk management of the alien snails at the national level as well as using the snails in agriculture.