Mussels

For more than a decade, researchers around the world have shown that sampling a water body and analyzing for DNA (a method known as eDNA) is an effective method to detect an organism in the water. The challenge is that finding organisms that are not very abundant requires a lot of samples to locate this needle in a haystack. Enter the "lab in a can", the water quality sampling and processing robot...

The ecological and economic costs of an invasive quagga or zebra mussel infestation in the Pacific Northwest of the U.S. would be significant. The development of invasive mussel monitoring programs in the Pacific Northwest provides a unique opportunity to evaluate a regional invasive species detection effort early in its development. Although efforts are underway to monitor for the presence of...

Invasive zebra and quagga mussels (collectively called dreissenid mussels) are causing significant ecological and economic impacts and the range of these impacts continues to increase as they spread across North America. Dreissenids affect industrial and municipal infrastructure, recreational water users, and they severely alter aquatic ecosystems. USGS has been conducting dreissenid mussel...

Invasion of dreissenid mussels (zebra and quagga mussels, Dreissena polymorpha and D. rostriformis bugensis, respectively) into the Great Lakes and Mississippi River Basins has resulted in estimated economic impacts as high as $1 billion annually for maintenance and repair of biofouled water conveyance systems and other infrastructures (Pimentel et al. 2005).

The Invasive Mussel Collaborative was formed in 2014 to advance scientifically sound technology for invasive mussel control to produce measurable ecological and economic benefits in the Great Lakes. A broad membership base of states, provinces, tribal and other entities and a well-organized communication network facilitates the exchange of information between scientists, managers and stakeholders...

Invasive zebra and quagga mussels (Dreissena polymorpha and D. rostriformis bugensis, respectively) are causing significant ecological and economic impacts and the scope of these impacts increases as they continue to spread across North America. The USGS conducts science to inform management actions for controlling and mitigating the impacts of invasive mussels. Studies include evaluation and...

Zebra and quagga mussels were first introduced into the Great Lakes in the 1980’s and they have since expanded to over 750 inland lakes in addition to the 5 Great Lakes (http://fl.biology.usgs.gov/Nonindigenous_Species/Zebra_mussel_distribution/zebra_mussel_distribution.html, accessed 8/5/2015). A 2009 study conducted by the Idaho Aquatic Nuisance Species Taskforce estimated the annual economic...

A dead-cell, spray-dried powder formulation of Pseudomonas fluorescens, strain CL145A was recently approved by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for control of dreissenid mussels (zebra mussel, Dreissena polymorpha and quagga mussel, Dreissena rostriformis bugensis) in open-water environments. The EPA approved product, Zequanox® (registration number 84059-15) is manufactured by Marrone...

Zebra mussels (Dreissenia polymorpha) are native to the Black, Caspian, and Aral Seas of eastern Europe (Gollasch and Leppäkoski 1999) and they were likely introduced into Lake Erie as veliger larvae in the summer or fall of 1985 (Hebert et al. 1989). Their high reproductive capacity and planktonic larval stage enable zebra mussels to rapidly disperse (Birnbaum 2011). Less than 10 years after...

Control technology for dreissenid mussels currently relies heavily on chemical molluscicides that can be both costly and ecologically harmful. There is a need to develop more environmentally neutral control tools to manage dreissenid mussels. Carbon dioxide has shown toxicity to several species of invasive bivalves, including zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) and the Asian clam (Corbicula...