Talk:Zebra mussel

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According to http://www.serc.si.edu/watershed/may2001/invasivespecies.htm, zebra mussel was transported to North America via ballast water from a ship.

Almost certainly the case; I edited the page for grammar and some factual content issues. I left in the grumbling paragraph at the bottom, although it porbably belongs here rather than in the page. I may work on it another time. The article certainly has an American slant because that is where a fair portion of the recent work has been done. Good recent work done in Ireland also.`

Contents

[edit] Merge with quagga mussel?

The following note was put at the bottom of the article some months ago by an unknown user:

The entries on the Quagga mussel and the Zebra mussel should probably be merged into one entry concerning Dreissina species. Most of the information presented is North American in perspective perhaps because many Europeans have lived with these species for generations and are accustomed to the problems that these species cause.
One significant difference between the two species is that Quagga mussels can occur at greater depths than zebra mussels.

The above note was still there; I removed it.Dmccabe 03:33, 23 November 2006 (UTC)


I'm anything but an expert on mussels, or anything biology, really. I just happened upon this article and was able to do some cleaning. I'm fine with merging the zebras and quaggas, but I can't do that. Can someone look into this? Any need for an "official" merger tag? ··· rWd · Talk ··· 19:53, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

No need; they two separate species; morphological and genetically distinct. They have very similar ecological effects, but that would be like merging African elephants and Asian elephants (DMC); just read the elephant page this week and it is an example of why this and the quagga page should be merged, so obviously I have changed my mind; see my note on the quagga page (DMC March 18 2006).

I banged in a paragraph covering impacts on native mussels. This is the smoking gun and has been repeated now on both sides of the Atlantic. Perhaps others can add more specifics (time needed). Cheers, (DMC Jan 29 2006)

[edit] deletion

I took out this: "Other examples are the round goby, alewife, and sea lamprey".; As discussed on the invasive species page, one person's invasive is another's native. Without context the listed species are not invasive, and if they belong anywhere it is on the invasive species page. What do folks think?Dmccabe 01:24, 27 March 2006 (UTC)


[edit] predators

I tweaked the wording on the inevitability of spread: downstream spread is passive in the planktonic stages; spread to unlinked waterways is most likely by trailered pleasure boats. Finally, there are several natural North American predators (freshwater drum, yellow perch, white perch, sturgeon, and some diving duck species). However, not one of them or any combination has been shown to make a dent.Dmccabe 01:52, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] elimination from a quarry?

I thought that they had also been removed from Lake George NY (small populations restricted to spring-fed spots on a single shoreline stretch); I have not kept up with that story; has anyone else? Regardless, it is difficult to back up a definitive 'this is the only case' type statement.Dmccabe 01:52, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Ring Shapes

What are those O-shaped rings around the opening of the mussel? - MSTCrow 11:30, 14 August 2006 (UTC)


iirc, Labial palps

[edit] A few revertions

I have reverted a few vandalist edits that had crept up, and added a link to the Spanish wikipedia page. Additionally, I have also changed the date for the Netherlands first sightings from http://www.ecologistasenaccion.org/IMG/pdf/informe_mejillon_cebra_2006.pdf (Spanish). The linked resource is from Ecologistas en Acción, a well-known and respected Spanish ecologist group. Feel free to revert to the previous year (1850) if it is correct. 85.136.21.192 01:02, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] There is a bright side.

Mussel shells are made of calcium carbonate and that is the single most important carbon sink the enviroment has. The fact that these organisms can live in polluted waters and help pull excess carbon out of circulation is a bonus.

```Don Granberry

[edit] Shells

As far as I know, Zebra Mussels have very sharp shells. I've cut my hands numerous times coming of out Lake Ontario...should that be mentioned in the article somehow? Andrew647 03:43, 25 May 2007 (UTC)


Sure. Find a reference, put in a blurb under "Effects" probably about the effects of the sharpness, and "ref" frame the reference at the end of your blurb. —BozoTheScary 19:59, 25 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Information from history in Zebra Musells (sic)

There was information and references in a misspelled version of the article, but I couldn't determine the correctness of the information. Most of it is redundant with the current information in the article so I'm putting it here. ColourBurst 23:06, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

Zebra Musells (Driessena polymorpha) were first discovered in Lake St. Clair in 1988, and were introduced when a transatlantic ship from Europe emptied its ballast tanks in port (Herbert et al. 1989; Griffiths et al. 1991). Although not discovered until 1988, it is thought to have arrived in 1986 (Gist et al. 1997). In the seventeen years since, the non-native species has invaded the entire Upper Mississippi River System, a large number of it's tributaries, and many inland lakes, and has nearly eliminated most native mussel species in the Great Lakes (Allen et al. 1999; Chakraborti et al. 2002; U.S Fish and Wildlife Service 2003). It has been suggested that D. polymorpha has the potential to invade most of the waterways in the United States as well as southern Canada (Johnson et al., 1996). D. polymorpha competes aggressively for food with native species, and due to their rapid rate of reproduction and domination of the waterbody substrate, reproduction becomes difficult for native species.

[edit] Air Conditioning??

..But how on earth are they getting into air conditioners, of all places? I've read they are a problem in industrial air conditioners a few places but can't figure out how they'd get there in the first place, other than by disgruntled employees. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Zaphraud (talk • contribs) 02:18, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Good question. I can imagine many reasons not to use raw lake water in an AC system, but it is hard to see any other way mussels could get in there.Dmccabe (talk) 18:00, 9 March 2008 (UTC) Have a look at this: [[1]] —Preceding unsigned comment added by Dmccabe (talk • contribs) 18:04, 9 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] References

  • Allen, Y.C., B.A. Thompson, and C.W. Ramcharan. 1999. Growth and Mortality Rates if the Zebra Mussel, (Dreissena polymorpha) in the Lower Mississippi River. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. 56(5): 748-759.
  • Chakraborti, R.K., J. Kaur, and J.D. DePinto. 2002. Analysis of Factors Affecting Zebra Mussel Growth in Saginaw Bay: A GIS-based Modeling Approach. Journal of Great Lakes Research. 28(3):396-410.
  • Gist, D.H., M.C. Miller, and W.A. Brence. 1997. Annual Reproductive Cycle of the Zebra Mussel in the Ohio River: A Comparison with Lake Erie. Archiv fur Hydrobiologie. 138(3):365-379.
  • Griffiths, R.W., D.W. Schloesser, J.H. Leach, and W.P. Kovalak. 1991. Distribution and dispersal of the zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) in the Great Lakes region. Canadian Journal of Fish and AquaticScience. 48:1381-1388.
  • Herbert, P.D.N., B.W. Muncaster, and G.L. Mackie. 1989. Ecological and genetic studies on Dreissena polymorpha (Pallas): A new mollusc in the Great Lakes. Canadian Journal of Fish and AquaticScience. 46:1587-1591.
  • Johnson, L.E., and J.T. Carlton. 1996. Post-establishment spread in large-scale invasions: Dispersal mechanisms of the Zebra Mussel (Dreissena polymorpha). Ecology. 77(6):1690-1697.
  • United States Fish and Wildlife Service. 2003. Freshwater mussels of the Upper Mississippi River System. [Online: http://midwest.fws.gov/mussel/]

[edit] sentence error. also it has no reference

"This proves beneficial for fish most of the time, helping the fish live in better conditions."

this sentnece is 1) incorrect, zebra muscles hurt more food chains than they help and 2) it has no reference and should therefore be removed. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.43.212.236 (talk) 00:11, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] propose subsection: "Invasive Species"

I propose a new subsection called invasive species.

[edit] watershedcouncil.org

I think we should include some of the information on zebra muscles from this website. http://www.watershedcouncil.org/AquaticInvasiveSpecies.html —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.43.212.236 (talk) 00:17, 2 June 2008 (UTC)