Moorean Viviparous Tree Snail: Invasive Predator Victim
This colorful snail lived only on the island of Moorea in French Polynesia. Scientists introduced rosy wolfsnails to control agricultural pest snails. Instead, the predatory snails hunted native tree snails to extinction in the wild. Some survive in captive breeding programs but have disappeared from their natural forest habitat. Their loss represents dozens of Pacific island snail species eliminated by this single introduced predator.