Apple Snail Eggs

About the Apple Snail Eggs

Those shocking bubblegum-pink clusters stuck to stems and structures above southern pond edges are the eggs of the island apple snail, a large South American freshwater snail that has spread through the wetlands of the Texas coastal plain. Each cluster can hold hundreds of eggs, and the improbable pink color warns predators that the eggs are chemically defended.

The snails themselves - baseball-sized, one of the largest freshwater snails in the world - graze aquatic vegetation so heavily that dense infestations can strip a marsh, which is why the species is considered a serious invasive pest. The eggs are laid above the waterline on purpose: it keeps them away from aquatic predators until the hatchlings drop into the water below.

There is one silver lining to the invasion. Apple snails are the specialty food of the Limpkin, and the snail's spread across the Gulf states is exactly what has pulled that spectacular bird into Texas in recent years - so a pink egg cluster on a Texas pond is worth a careful scan of the shoreline for the bird that follows them.