Quagga mussel

From Great Lakes Wiki

First found in the Great Lakes in September of 1989, the Quagga Mussel was not identified as separate from its popular relative the zebra mussel until 1991. This distinction was not immediately made due to the similarity in size, but the quagga mussel is rounder and does not have the ridges that are indicative of the zebra mussel. The easiest distinction between the two is their habitat; zebra mussels are usually found in water less than 50 feet deep, however quagga mussels dwell at depths exceeding 90 feet.

Since their first sighting in Lake Erie the quagga mussel has been found in Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, Lake Ontario, Lake St. Clair, Saginaw Bay, St. Lawrence River and inland in New York, Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania.

Introduces into the Great Lakes through ballast water on ships they are considered an aquatic invasive species. The problem in their presence is due to their ability to filter massive amounts of water, removing phytoplankton and suspended materials that are essential to native species. Therefore they out-compete the native species for food, starving existing populations such as zooplankton and Diporeia, a bottom dwelling organism. Affecting only a few organisms creates a larger issue, by reworking the fragile aquatic food web. Also, biomagnification of pollution in the quagga mussel increases exposure and consumption of contaminates by native species.

Quagga mussels are also very adaptable species, surviving in extremer temperatures and depths than the already rampant zebra mussel. They can colonize any surface, unlike the zebra mussel, which attaches to hard surfaces only. Quagga mussels can reproduce on a soft sea bottom of sand or mud. They also reproduce abundantly; in one season a female quagga mussel can produce in excess of 1 million eggs. The eggs then become larvae called veligers, which float around, invisible, in the water. This can easily lead to unintentional spread the quagga mussel to new waters.

Overabundance of the quagga mussel is also posing a threat to industry and recreation. The quagga mussel is known to colonize pipes and screens, clogging waterways for structures including water treatment and power plants. Communities centered around recreation on the water are also laden with the quagga mussel, which are colonizing docks, buoys, boats, beaches and breakwalls. Removal efforts often become an immense economic strain to any company or community.

Great Lakes Organizations are asking for the public to help combat the quagga mussel. Since the veligers are unlike anything native to the Great Lakes, in that they are invisible larve, it is asked that boats be rinsed and all water holds, such as bilges, motors, live wells and transform wells should be completely drained before leaving any body of water. Rinsing should include all objects in contact with the water; including swimsuits, wet suits and life vests.