how did zebra mussels come to the us?
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The zebra mussel is native to Eastern Europe and Western Russia. The species was unintentionally introduced into the United States' Great Lakes through the discharge of contaminated cargo ship ballast water.
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What you can do to stop the spread of the invasive zebra mussel: Inspect boat, trailer, and other recreational equipment that have been in contact with water. Remove all mud, plants, or animals. Drain all bilge water, live wells, bait buckets, and all other water from your boat, engine and equipment.
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They threaten native fish by consuming food and smothering other species. As with zebra mussels, they can clog pipes and water intakes, and cause damage to hydroelectric dams and irrigation systems.
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Adult zebra mussels start to reproduce in the spring, when water temperatures rise to about 12°C. In habitats where they water stays warm year round, they may reproduce continuously. Females release eggs into the water, and males release sperm, and fertilization occurs after they are released.
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The Zebra Mussel gets its name from the dark, striped pattern on their shells. ... Zebra Mussels are believed to have hitch-hiked from Europe to North America in ballast water from transoceanic ships.
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Zebra mussels first arrived in Canada in 1986. They were found in a harbour in Lake Erie, most likely transported from Europe via transatlantic shipping. Within several years, zebra mussels spread throughout the Laurentian Great Lakes. ... They are currently found in more than 750 lakes in North America.
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Most zebra mussels live in water that is 2 to 12 meters deep. In shallower water waves and ice make it harder for them to survive. They can live in much deeper water -- some zebra mussels have been found as deep as 60 meters, and they can probably live deeper than that.
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Zebra Mussel filters water to the point where food sources such as plankton are removed, altering food webs. This also causes clearer water, allowing sunlight to penetrate deeper, increasing growth of aquatic vegetation.
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It is theorized that zebra mussels snuck into North America in the ballast of a ship carrying cargo from Europe. Since that time, these tiny bivalves have begun to take over the ecosystem. ... These mussels alter the environment enough that plants and other organisms struggle to continue to live in the area.
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Zebra Mussel filters water to the point where food sources such as plankton are removed, altering food webs. This also causes clearer water, allowing sunlight to penetrate deeper, increasing growth of aquatic vegetation. Impact fish and wildlife by increasing toxic algal blooms.
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Several organisms, such as diving ducks, crayfish, eel, common carp, pumpkinseed, European roach, and freshwater drum, have been found to consume zebra mussels. Several other fish species are listed as potential predators of zebra mussels because of their historic consumption of other native molluscs.
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Zebra Mussels are believed to have hitch-hiked from Europe to North America in ballast water from transoceanic ships. They were first observed in Ontario in 1988 and have spread throughout the Great Lakes, Lake St. ... They disperse downstream on water currents during their free-floating larval stage.
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Within several years, zebra mussels spread throughout the Laurentian Great Lakes. By 1991, zebra mussels began to spread to smaller inland lakes in Ontario and the eastern United States. They are currently found in more than 750 lakes in North America.
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The Invasion Zebra mussels were first discovered in the Hudson at very low densities in 1991. By the end of 1992, they had spread throughout the river, and their biomass was greater than the combined biomass of all other consumers (fish, zooplankton, zoobenthos, bacteria) in the river.
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Zebra mussels are an invasive, fingernail-sized mollusk that is native to fresh waters in Eurasia. ... Zebra mussels negatively impact ecosystems in many ways. They filter out algae that native species need for food and they attach to--and incapacitate--native mussels.
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Lake floor food supplies are enriched by zebra mussels as they filter pollution out of the water. This biomass becomes available to bottom-feeding species and to the fish that feed on them.
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Zebra Mussels are believed to have hitch-hiked from Europe to North America in ballast water from transoceanic ships. ... They disperse downstream on water currents during their free-floating larval stage. They are only able to disperse into upstream areas, like Kelso Reservoir, through human activity.