Horrors of strange snails on Thi Vai river

A strange snail is appearing on Thi Vai River and specializes in prawn meat and fish in the river. Many experts have said this is not a "strange snail" , but still cannot determine exactly what kind of snail this is.

Mr. Nguyen Van Thi, 67 years old, lives in Phuoc Thai commune, Long Thanh district, Dong Nai province but said: 'For nearly half a month, I have not dared to drop the net in the area of ​​Cam Pha cement port .'.

Empty shrimp and fish meat

After nearly four hours of releasing the net, he pulled up to find the head of a shrimps weighing more than a tael (100 grams), and Cam Van Thoai was happy. However, when he brought the net closer to remove it, he saw the snails clinging to the shrimp's body, he immediately said: 'I have to drop this shrimp in the river already'. Seeing people do not understand, he pointed to the snails, then irritated: 'These snails suck up all the shrimp meat, then do not drop shrimp into the river for what'.

A spiked shrimp is left with its shell only when it is caught by strange snails. (Photo: Thai Ngoc)

Having been fishing for a long time on Thi Vai River for more than 25 years, Mr. Thoai said: Previously, there was no kind of snail that attracted this fish, shrimp, crab. They have only appeared for over a year. Fisherman Nguyen Van Thi, with more than 50 years of fishing on this river, said: After the discharge of theft by Vedan, along with some other factories to Thi Vai River were discovered and required to stop discharge. , about 3-4 months later, the fish is back. Since the beginning of 2010, there have been strange snails appearing in the river section of Cam Pha Cement Port. About half a year ago, they multiply infinitely. Since then, every time they pull the net, they can see the shrimp, crabs, and fishes are happy, but they see the snails on them. Remove nets, only see shrimp, fish . caught in the bones and shells.

Not sure what snail .

Mr. Pham Van Mien, an ecologist of the Ho Chi Minh City Environment and Development Institute, after considering the strange snails taken by reporters, said that this is not a new species. According to him, it belongs to the family Buccinidae and Clea variety . This is a carnivorous breed .

Explaining that snail species only live a lot in the river section near the area of ​​Cam Pha cement port, Mr. Mien said: maybe in this area, the water has the right salinity and the riverbed has many nutrients for snails. on.

The snails suck the shrimp, crabs and fish that have just been removed from the net. (Photo: Thai Ngoc)

Meanwhile, MS Ngo Xuan Quang, Head of Environmental Management Technology Department, Ho Chi Minh City Institute of Tropical Biology, a researcher on invertebrate benthic animals in estuaries and coastal areas, said that species This snail may belong to Class Gastropoda class , they Nassariidac . Mr. Quang also added that the world documents are about these snails, but very little. As for research materials of Vietnam, he has not found, or may have had a researcher, but not yet published so it is impossible to know.

Mr. Quang also remarked similarly to Mr. Mien when he said that maybe this is a new snail species, they just appeared recently because the former area of ​​Thi Vai river has not had favorable conditions for them to develop. Or, it is also possible that this is an alien species, according to the boat going into this area, having suitable conditions, so it has proliferated. The contamination of Thi Vai River, the creation of a dangerous snail species is unlikely.

Dr. Nguyen Minh Nien, Department of Aquatic Resources, Institute of Aquaculture Research II also made the initial comment, it is very unlikely that this is a completely new species of snail. Particularly, the snail-eating species is not a strange species to the experts.

Although given many conjectures, in the end, scientists still cannot know exactly the identity of the strange snail species appearing on Thi Vai River, at least until today .