Slimy suspect no match for Quarantine

When a slimy stowaway arrived in Fremantle by ship on Tuesday, the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) worked much faster than a snail’s pace to detain it at the wharf.

During routine surveillance, Quarantine officer Paul Caltsounis spotted a snail on the underside of a container from Malaysia: suspecting it wasn’t just a garden gastropod, he sent it for identification.

AQIS entomologist Dr Peter Neville confirmed Paul’s suspicions when he established that the slow but dangerous invader was a giant African snail.

“These snails have a voracious appetite and could rapidly destroy our natural environment if they became established in Australia,” Peter says.

“Giant African snails can grow to 30 centimetres in length and can weigh a kilogram — they’ve also been recorded as attacking at least 500 species of plants, including gum trees.”

Originating in eastern Africa and now present on most Pacific and Indian Ocean islands, the giant African snail is one of the world’s most destructive pests of fruit and vegetables — and has also been known to eat garbage, excrement . . . even other giant African snails.

“These snails are regarded as a delicacy in many countries,” says Peter, “but they also carry the rat lungworm parasite,which can cause meningitis in humans.”

Giant African snails are often found by Quarantine officers on crates, containers, machinery, motor vehicles and plant material.

“Quarantine is vital to protect Australia from exotic pests and diseases,” Peter says. “Detections such as this show that our surveillance is effective in managing the risk to Australia.”

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