Massive Mussels

Zebra mussels, already in one Massachusetts lake, have now been found in the Housatonic River. A report detailing the finds also places ten other water bodies at high risk for invasion.

Pay To Play Against The Rules

A man caught violating regulations that require boaters to allow their vehicles to be inspected by park staff was fined $2500 earlier this month. The rules are in place at Glen Canyon National Recreation Area in order to prevent the introduction of zebra and quagga mussels into Lake Powell, a man-made reservoir located in between Utah and Arizona.

Musseling Into Texas

Zebra mussels have been found in another Texas lake; officials are concerned the mussels are entering river systems in northern part of state (thanks to W^2 for the tip :-)).

Mass Mussel Mania

Zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) have been found for the first time in the state of Massachusetts. The mussels were found by an alert citizen swimming in Laurel Lake in the town of Lee, located in the western part of the state.

Oregon Trailers

Oregon is casting a wary eye on boaters coming from zebra mussel-infested states, and is watching for other invaders as well.

Tex Messaging

Texas Parks and Wildlife is reporting that a zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) was found in Lake Texoma earlier this April. Lake Texoma has already had four documented near misses, where boats with zebra mussels were prevented from entering the water. The state is asking everyone to keep an eye out for the invasive bivalves and to report any sightings to 1-800-792-4263 (or in Oklahoma call 1-405-521-3721).

P.S. - If you had subscribed to the ISW Twitter feed, you would have found out about zebra mussels in TX hours and hours ago.

Small Craft Advisory

KPBS in California is reminding listeners who might be thinking of heading out onto the water this Labor Day weekend to keep a mindful eye on their boating equipment. With the recent discoveries of both quagga and zebra mussels in their state, California boaters are being asked to keep their boats free of potential invasive species, and that means inspecting and cleaning them from trailer to hull. It also means thinking twice before jumping from one body of water to another - officials are asking boaters to instead wait five days between launching sites. Good advice for anyone with a boat or personal watercraft.

Why Not Us?

Back in January 2007, an article in the Denver Post asked an interesting question: Why did the quagga mussel (Dreissena rostriformis bugensis), found in several states in the Northeast USA, seem to skip over Colorado in its spread to the west, and end up in Nevada (in Lake Mead)? Well, ask no more, Denver Post. KOAA.com and others are reporting that the quagga mussel has been discovered for the first time in Colorado, in Lake Granby. The lake is actually a storage reservoir located on the Colorado River, which has already seen quagga mussel incursions via its southern tip...Lake Mead. The quaggas are thought to have arrived in the reservoir via ballast discharge.

Pair this with the discovery of the zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) in Lake Pueblo in late 2007, and Colorado has no need to feel left out any more!

Lucky Louie

The Lodi News-Sentinel has a nice story about California's program to train dogs to sniff out zebra and quagga mussels along with other invasive aquatic species. The dogs are trained with tennis balls scented to match a particular invader (I smell mussels!...eww) and do an amazingly thorough job of finding things in places where humans cannot.

Sure, the ISW has featured the whole "dog catches invasive alien species" story a few times before, but who can resist a dog wearing a vest? Plus, there's a new angle this time around - when the California Department of Fish and Game's grant money runs out, the K-9 portion of this program, known as "Californians Turn in Poachers," will be relying solely on donations to keep it going. If you want to find out more about making a donation, click through to the full article.

Post, Nuclear

The Post-Standard is reporting that zebra and quagga mussels (Dreissena polymorpha and D. bugensis) were indirectly responsible for the shut-down of a nuclear power plant on three different occasions last September and October. The James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant in New York relies on water intake pipes from Lake Ontario, which is inhabited by both mussel species. While the official cause of the shutdowns was wave action leading to the clogging of the intake pipes with the green alga Cladophora, the mussels are being blamed for the proliferation of algae since 1) they don't eat it 2) their filtering abilities are clearing up the lake, allowing sunlight to reach lower depths and spurring the production of more Cladophora and 3) their waste products act as fertilizer to further enhance algae production. Plant workers have responded by enhancing the screens and other contraptions in place to keep the intake pipes clear.

Update: In related news, the mussels discovered late last year in the Pueblo Reservoir in Colorado have turned out to be zebra mussels - a new species for that state. (If you follow the ISW Twitter feed, you found that out about six hours ago.)

(Tip of the virtual hat to the Protect Your Waters website for linking to the power plant story.)

Building Strong Mussels

The L.A. Times is reporting that the zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) has just been discovered in the state of California. Over the past several months, California has been dealing with the repercussions of the discovery of multiple populations of quagga mussels (Dreissena bugensis) but until now, had not seen the quagga's better known relative. There is some concern from state officials about the consequences of the introduction since the zebra mussels are located in San Justo Reservoir, which supplies water to farmers and homeowners in San Benito County. As of right now, the extent of the invasion is not known, but it is likely that this will result in some changes over the coming months regarding the way this reservoir and fishing site is used.

Calcium Supplement

According to this press release at EurekAlert, new research indicates that calcium may be the key to why zebra mussels and quagga mussels (Dreissena polymorpha and Dreissena rostriformis bugensis) have not shown up some parts of the USA. Scientists looked at calcium concentrations from streams and rivers in the US to determine which regions had the greatest risk of mussel invasion. They found that low calcium levels meant an area was less likely to have either species. That's good news for New England, and bad news for those feeling optimistic about the Lake Mead invasion in the western USA.

The scientists surmise that this finding is due to the fact that the invasive mussels have a higher requirement for calcium than native mussel species. If you want to read more, the full article was published in the latest issue of Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. The article abstract here. If, like me, you don't have full access to that journal, you can entertain yourself with the map that resulted from the analysis.

Weekend Blog Blogging

The past couple weeks in invasive species posts, from elsewhere in the blogosphere:

• Greg over at the Gondola Blog writes about his experiences discovering quagga mussels in Lake Las Vegas, Nevada and getting stopped for a boat inspection in California.
• Environmental graffiti posts "The 5 Worst Invasive Plants," a sequel to last month's "The 5 Worst Invasive Species in the World."
• Rock Paper Lizard has a post about gray squirrels run amok in the island city of Richmond, British Columbia.

Botox For The Birds

A story from the AP is suggesting that the recent swarm of bird deaths in Michigan are the indirect result of the proliferation of invasive species in the Great Lakes. The birds are washing ashore at Lake Michigan by the dozen, with the cause of death determined to be avian botulism (type "E"), one of several episodes to occur over the past few years. The botulism itself is not considered invasive, but scientists are speculating that it is getting to the birds through a food chain of invaders: Zebra and quagga mussels (Dreissena polymorpha and D. rostriformis bugensis) containing the bacteria that causes botulism (Clostridium botulinum) are either consumed by birds or consumed by invasive round gobies (Neogobius melanostomus), which are then consumed by birds.

I am not sure if invasive species are specifically to blame here, or if it is just that the invaders are so numerous that they now make up a significant portion of the diet of birds that frequent the Great Lakes. Are zebra and quagga mussels the only ones that can filter botulinum bacteria? Do round gobies harbor more of the bacteria than native fish? The AP article glosses over the surface of the full story, so I did some investigating and found the following hypotheses, summarized from this well-written article from Michigan Sea Grant and this one from Wisconsin Sea Grant:

• Invasive mussels create a type of habitat that is more favorable for the growth of Clostridium botulinum.
• Zebra and/or quagga mussels filter at a much faster rate than native mussel species, allowing the toxins and pathogens that they filter out to build up to a greater degree than similar-sized native species.
• The filtering power of these invasive mussels clears the water, allowing the algae Cladophora to grow. When this algae reaches sufficient numbers and then dies, the resulting anaerobic water conditions encourage the growth of Clostridium botulinum.

It is important to note that none of these hypotheses have yet been proven to be an underlying cause of avian botulism. Research continues in both the US and Canada in order that we might one day understand the cycle of bird deaths and stop it from repeating. Until then, the invasive mussels may seem the most obvious target of blame but it could turn out that the situation is much more complicated.

Internetaction

In honor of today's environmentally-minded Blog Action Day, here is a roundup of news stories about people who are actually going out and doing something about invasive species:

• Out in Louisiana, the post-Katrina reports are starting to come in, and as would be expected following a massive environmental disturbance, the invasive species are making new inroads. As Bloomberg reports, it's all about the feral hogs and Chinese tallow trees. Forest managers are responding to these threats with hunting permits and herbicide treatments, respectively.
• The Governor of California signed AB 1683 into effect, giving that state's Department of Fish and Game the power it needs to manage the spread of the invasive quagga mussel (and hopefully prevent the spread of the zebra mussel) throughout the state. Read the full story from the Daily Democrat.
• The Bushkill Stream Conservancy is all set to start the restoration of an invasive plant-infested portion of Bushkill Creek. This month they'll begin their makeover, which includes removing Japanese knotweed and tree-of-heaven and replacing them with native greenery in four different spots. The Conservancy got funding for the $80,000 project through a series of grants from the state and non-profit organizations. Read more from the Express Times.

New And Notable

Recent arrivals in the US and beyond:

• The Suriname toad (Pipa pipa) was discovered in Puerto Rico.
• The Quagga mussel (Dreissena rostriformis bugensis) continues to be sighted in Southern California. Also, a Dreissena sp. was discovered in Arizona - the first record for the genus in that state.
• The Oriental weatherfish (Misgurnus anguillicaudatus) has been discovered in a small pond in New Jersey.
• India has a new species of fruit fly (Bactrocera invadens), the same one that has been spreading across Africa.
• Pink meadowsweet (Spiraea alba 'rosea') has naturalized in Belgium (via the ALIENS-L listserver)

Fun With Entrez

Let the sequencing battle begin!!!!

• Purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria): 50 nucleotide sequences, 26 protein sequences
• Zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha): 386 nucleotide sequences, 63 protein sequences
• Nutria (Myocastor coypus): 81 nucleotide sequences, 39 protein sequences
• Emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis): 25 nucleotide sequences, 11 protein sequences
• Brown tree snake (Boiga irregularis): 32 nucleotide sequences, 5 protein sequences
• Northern snakehead (Channa argus): 52 nucleotide sequences, 46 protein sequences
• Chinese mitten crab (Eriocheir sinensis): 238 nucleotide sequences, 89 protein sequences
• Frog Chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis): 439 nucleotide sequences, 3 protein sequences

Decision goes to: Zebra mussel, with a combined 449 sequences. Go Team Zebra Mussel!!!

To Canada, With Love

According to this article from The Oregonian, Oregon wildlife officials spotted a suspicious trailered boat being transported up the coast and contacted the Washington State Patrol to warn them to check it. Their concerns were well-warranted: it turns out the boat was from Missouri, and the inspection revealed zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) encrusted under the engine. The boat was on its way to British Columbia...where the owners had also recently delivered yet another boat. This update from the Seattle Post Intelligencer notes that the infested boat was salvaged after it sank in a lake in the Midwest. It is odd that I cannot find any Canadian news sources covering this story - seems like it would be a big deal.

For more coverage of Dreissena mussels breaking the 100th Meridian barrier, click here.

Breaking the Barrier

Looks like the 100th Meridian Initiative, whose main goal is to keep zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) from spreading into the western USA, might need to rename themselves to, say, the "120th Meridian Initiative." An NAS Alert came out this week reporting that zebra Quagga mussels have been found in Lake Mead, Nevada. Even worse, those specimens turned out to be just a few of thousands living in the lake, meaning that they came from an established population. All the more depressing considering this report (.pdf) prepared for the Initiative back in 2004, which concluded that the risk of zebra mussel establishment was low because 1) so many boaters clean their equipment and 2) few boaters come to Lake Mead from areas where zebra mussels are already found. The mussels have already been intercepted several times over the past few years on boats that were on their way to Lake Mead.

This raises some interesting questions about the root of the invasion. Were zebra Quagga mussels already in Lake Mead when that report came out? Are existing methods to clean boats not sufficient to prevent the introduction of adult zebra and Quagga mussels and their veligers? Could other vectors besides boaters be responsible (the risk assessment does not mention divers, for example)? The 100th Meridian Initiative has put up a web page where they've been actively posting updates on the story - if any new information becomes available I will update this post.

Update 01/12/2007:Turns out the mussels in question were misidentified - a lab investigation has classified them as the related Quagga mussel (Dreissena rostriformis bugensis). Perhaps more of a surprise since the known distribution of Quaggas in North America is much smaller than that of their congeners. The updated NAS Alert is here.

Update 1/26/07: More Quaggas found nearby in California and Arizona.

Mussel Mania

CBS News, among other sources, is reporting that zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) have been eradicated from a quarry in Virginia. Eradication is a pretty strong word, but state officials seemed confident in their announcement, made earlier this week, noting that this is the only known successful eradication of the invasive mollusks. How did they do it? Turns out they dosed the entire quarry with potassium chloride, a molluscide. While people are likely to be skeptical about claims of eradication, the tests that were done have shown a zebra mussel death rate of 100%, and the effects of the potassium chloride are expected to last thirty years. However, this kind of treatment is unlikely to be feasible in natural water bodies where native mussel species are also present.

A page from the Virginia Department of Game & Inland Fisheries provides more information about the project, including this environmental impact report (.pdf). The ISW first reported on the Milbrook Quarry zebra mussel invasion back in March 2003, and then again in November 2003.