The quagga mussel now occurs in many eastern and midwestern states as well as in select waterbodies in the western states of Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, and Utah.
MOSS BALLS ZEBRA MUSSELS FREE
that is free from these invasive mussels. Currently, the Columbia River Basin is one of the few remaining areas in the U.S. Within three years, they had been detected in all five Great Lakes. In North America, these invasive dreissenid mussels were first discovered in the Great Lakes in the late 1980s from discharged contaminated ballast water from ships arriving from Europe or through mature adults attached on anchors stored in the internal compartments of these ships. 1-3) are two-shelled mollusks native to the Caspian and Black Seas in eastern Europe and western Asia that spread rapidly and can severely disrupt aquatic ecosystems and critical water infrastructure systems. The quagga mussel and the zebra mussel (Order: Veneroida, Family: Bivalvia) (ZQM) (Figs. The zebra mussel is NOT known to occur in Utah, but living specimens were found hitchhiking in imported aquarium “moss balls” sold in Utah and in pet stores nationwide in 2021.The quagga mussel was first detected in Lake Powell in 2012 and quickly infested the reservoir.Infested areas can have devastating impacts on native mussel populations, fisheries, hydropower operations, and municipal water utilities.Invasive mussels are highly efficient at filtering water which results in depleted food sources for native species and explosive growth of bottom algae and weeds.Once these invasive mussels become established, they are difficult to eradicate and require expensive, ongoing maintenance.Most adults are about the size of an adult human's thumbnail.Zebra mussels and quagga mussels are invasive freshwater mollusks native to Eurasia that pose a significant threat to Western aquatic ecosystems.
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