Snail draws attention of Washington, D.C.

PROTEM, Mo. -- It's a tiny Ozark species, almost unrecognizable to the naked eye. Yet it has managed to draw attention as far away as Washington.

It's known as the Tumbling Creek cavesnail, a grain-sized creature living in stream gravel only in one place in the world -- a dark Missouri cave. And last week the eyeless, almost clear snail was named for emergency review under the Endangered Species Act.

"It's kind of like a little bubble with guts in it," said Peggy Horner, endangered species coordinator for the Missouri Department of Conservation. "But it's part of our natural fauna, and if it's declining, maybe other things are, too."

Two of the people most concerned with the snail's decline are Tom and Cathy Aley. The two have committed 35 years to saving cave ecosystems and preserving water quality in the Ozarks. At their $1.4 million Ozark Underground Laboratory near Protem -- 35 miles east of Branson -- they do cave and underground water system research for private groups, individuals and government agencies.

But their passion is preserving caves and all creatures within -- from bats to the Tumbling Creek cavesnail.

"I'm delighted," Tom Aley said, regarding the probable endangered species listing.

An employee discovered the cavesnail in 1969 while doing research in Tumbling Creek Cave.

Early surveys showed about 15,000 snails in the Missouri cave, Aley said. It's estimated that fewer than 150 remain. Aley blames silt. Erosion puts soil in surface streams that also seep water into the cave. It leaves a muck cover on the underwater gravel where the snails live, cutting them off from a slime they feed on, Aley said.

If the snail is designated as endangered, it would help the Aleys obtain federal grants to help fix those problems.

Wednesday, a legal agreement was announced between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and private conservation groups to expedite protection of the cavesnail and 28 other rare creatures and plants. Included on the list was the scaleshell mussel found in Missouri, Arkansas and Oklahoma.