#4704 · 🐌 snails, slugs & other molluscs
New Zealand Mudsnail
🇳🇱 Jenkins' waterhorentje ·Potamopyrgus antipodarum
10 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences
- 1. © Alexander Mrkvicka · CC BY-SA 4.0
- 2. © Mike Bowie · CC BY 4.0
- 3. © Saryu Mae 前 朝琉 · CC BY 4.0
- 4. © Michal Maňas · CC BY 4.0
- 5. © Center for Lakes and Reservoirs · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 6. © Tom Meijer · CC BY-SA 4.0
- 7. © Center for Lakes and Reservoirs · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 8. © U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service - Pacific Region's · CC BY 4.0
- 9. © Eva Hedström · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 10. © licensed media from BioImages DwCA without owner · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
what is it?
The New Zealand mud snail ( Potamopyrgus antipodarum ) is a species of very small freshwater snail with a gill and an operculum. This aquatic gastropod mollusk is in the family Tateidae. It is an invasive species in many countries, where populations of the snail can reach phenomenal densities.
base stats
Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).
fun facts
- Spotted 12 times in the Netherlands on iNaturalist.
- 2,778 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
- Scientifically named by John Edward Gray in 1843 (183 years ago).
- Not originally Dutch: it was introduced to the Netherlands.
fact sheet
- English
- New Zealand Mudsnail
- Nederlands
- Jenkins' waterhorentje
- scientific name
- Potamopyrgus antipodarum
- class
- Gastropoda
- order
- Littorinimorpha
- family
- Tateidae
- IUCN Red List
- LC · least concern
- in NL
- introduced
- sightings in NL
- 12
- sightings in Europe
- 822
- sightings worldwide
- 2,778
- GBIF records in NL
- 9,321
- weight
- —
- length
- —
- lifespan
- —
- named
- 1843 by John Edward Gray
IUCN in Dutch: niet bedreigd. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: iNaturalist taxon 129201, Wikidata Q1844769, GBIF 5192470, Wikipedia (EN), Wikipedia (NL). Intro text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.