Zebra Mussel- direct all questions here!

[archman]

That looks familiar... is that a photo from a government site?

 

[DavidPT40]

I got the photo from google images, looking at the url it does appear to be from a government site.

 

[ComputerJoe]

Quaggi mussels inhabit the deeper, cooler, less nutrient rich areas. Zebras still rule above 130'. There is hope...recient photos from Lake Superior shipwrecks have shown no mussel infestations. My inquries have bore some fruit. Apparently there is something about Superior that prevents the larvae from forming shells and reproducing. Transplanted mussels can survive but their offspring will not. Now it's up to the scientists to figure out what it is.

 

[pir8]

I've heard tale of the mussels stowing away in BCD's

 

[nagel]

Okay, stupid newbie question here (I apologize, but I have to ask) ---

Where did the Zebra Mussell come from? and When did it get here?

I mean, I haven't been associated with diving very long, but it seems that about a year ago I started noticing alot of discussion about the zebra mussell. Maybe it's been going on since the beginning of time. Anyway, obviously divers have been talking about it and now I'm hearing fisherman also. Additionally, I'm seeing regulations being posted concerning zebra mussells. So, here are my thoughts. Why are we just now hearing about this? Did they come from somewhere (outer space - just kiddin')? Have they always been here?

I've always believed that Mother Nature has a funny way of balancing things out. Some believe that if we don't do something, they will take over and ruin all the water bodies. If this is true, why hasn't it already happened? It's hard for me to believe that all of a sudden the world created the zebra mussell and they are taking over. So, I have to believe that they have been here all along or atleast somewhere, but why are we just now noticing, cussing, and discussing them? Again, this may be a debate that has been going on forever, but it seems to be getting more and more intense.

I'm not interested in fostering the debate as to if they are good or bad. I just want to understand a little more about why now. Again, my belief is that Mother Nature tends to take care of itself, so I can't believe we are looking at armageddon.

Any help you can give in understanding this would be greatly appreciated.

S. Nagel

 

[drrich2]

Here's a USGS Fact Sheet on Zebra Mussels.

From that:

Native Range: Zebra mussels are native to the Black, Caspian, and Azov Seas.

By the late 18th and early 19th centuries, zebra mussels had spread to most all major drainages of Europe because of widespread construction of canal systems. They first appeared in Great Britain in 1824 where they are now well established. Since then, zebra mussels have expanded their range into Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Ireland, Italy, and the rest of western Europe. Zebra mussels were first discovered in North America in 1988 in the Great Lakes. The first account of an established population came from Canadian waters of Lake St. Clair, a water body connecting Lake Huron and Lake Erie. By 1990, zebra mussels had been found in all the Great Lakes. The following year, zebra mussels escaped the Great Lakes basin and found their way into the Illinois and Hudson rivers. The Illinois River was the key to their introduction into the Mississippi River drainage which covers over 1.2 million square miles. By 1992, the following rivers had established populations of zebra mussels: Arkansas, Cumberland, Hudson, Illinois, Mississippi, Ohio, and Tennessee. By 1994, the following states had reported records of zebra mussels within their borders or in water bodies adjacent to their borders: Alabama, Arkansas (USFWS 2005), Illinois (USFWS 2005), Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana (USFWS 2005), Michigan, Minnesota (USFWS 2005; Karns 2004), Mississippi, Missouri, New York, Ohio (USFWS 2005), Oklahoma (USFWS 2005), Pennsylvania, Tennessee (USFWS 2005), Vermont, West Virginia (USFWS 2005), and Wisconsin (USFWS 2005; Karns 2004). More recently, Connecticut has been added to the list of states where zebra mussels have been found. In 2002, zebra mussels were found in a small isolated quarry in Virginia, a first for this state. During the summer of 2003, zebra mussel larvae known as veligers were collected in the Missouri River , the stretch of the river shared by both Nebraska and South Dakota. I January of 2007, zebra mussels were discovered in Lake Mead, Nevada (W. Baldwin, pers. comm.).

From what I understand, they massively over-proliferate, can encrust objects & organisms, decimate plankton thus damaging the base of the food chain, and incidently improve water clarity.

Just as organisms adapt over time to their environment, so to do other species in that environment adapt to them. Nature is hard put to balance out some invasive species, which by chance are optimally adapted to exploit the new habitat, whilst the other organisms in the environment are not well-suited to control them.

Example: Kudzu.

 

[SwimJim]

When Zebra mussels take hold they cover everything. Their shells litter the beach and cut peoples feet as they are sharp as razors. They are filter feeders and they eat the zoo plankton which the food chain relys on to survive. First the bait fish get decimated as they feed on the plankton which has been depleted by the zebra's. No bait fish, no game fish. Thats the bad news. The good news. Where once the viz in Lake michigan was ten or fifteen feet on a normal day, now its forty to one hundred. We have an invasive specie of fish in the great lakes called the Goby. The Goby just loves to eat the zebra mussels. The Department of Natural resources is up in arms about both species, but like the true bottom feeders they are, that have once again neglected to do thier homework. The Goby's are the Key to controlling the zebra's. Mother natures fix. If one has spent time observing these things they would have noticed the previous years Goby population explosion. They would have also noticed the marked decline in the zebra population. I made several dives in Door county Wisconsin this fall and noticed that the Goby population is down too now. The small mouth bass population is really healthy. Hmmmm?? If one lays on the bottom, Goby's being curious little creatures will come and observe you. I have this behaviour documented on video. Funny thing is, when the small mouth Bass come into view the Goby's dissappear. Hmm, could this mean that mother nature has been working on the problem? I think so.
Pandoras box has been openned and we will always have zebras now and we will always have Goby's. You can power wash all the boats you want, you can spend all the tax dollars you want to study the issue. In the end, all the efforts you expend are in vain. Mother nature will do what she wants. Thats just the way it is. Change happens. The sooner we get used to that the better off we will be. It is important to study the goings on out there, sometimes there are things we can do to help. But that is a slippery slope. In this case, its best to let things run its course.

Jim

 

[pir8]

Yeah Yup

 

[dmdoss]

If they use potassium chloride wouldnt that kill the good mussels?

 

[ComputerJoe]

Up here, the only GOOD mussel is a DEAD mussel.
We had thought that the deeper wrecks would remain clean but that has changed in the last 3-4 years with the advent of Quaggi mussels. At first the viz was nice as you could see the entire wreck at once. The view isn't so nice after the wreck gets it's first coat of mussels. Now, are we doing harm to the wrecks by brushing them off? After they get a foot thick they will come off by themselves in sheets, will that be damaging the wreck? Life used to be a lot simplier.