Consultant's Report - Minnesota State Legislature

MINNESOTA DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES
Feasibility Study to Limit the Spread of Zebra Mussels from Ossawinnamakee Lake
IV. REVIEW OF ZEBRA MUSSEL (DREISSENA POL YMORPHAj SPECIES
This section provides a brief review of zebra mussel (Dresissena polymOlpha) species that
includes a historical overview, physical description and life history traits, ecological and
physiological overview, impact ofzebra mussels, and their status as an aquatic nuisance species.
Historical Overview
Russian scientist and explorer, Pyotr Simon Pallas, first described populations of zebra mussels
(Dreissena polymorpha) in the Caspian Sea and Ural River in Russia (Pallas 1771). Native to
Eastern Europe, including the Black, Azov, and Caspian seas, the species spread through
Western Europe in the 19 th century as canals and inland waterways were connected to facilitate
trade during the Industrial Revolution (Nalepa and Schloesser 1993). The species was believed
to be introduced to North America in 1985-86 by the release of larvae with ship ballast water in
Lake St. Clair (Hebert et al. 1989, Griffiths 1993). Zebra mussels were first documented in
North America in 1988 (Hebert et al. 1989).
Zebra mussels are nonindigenous, invasive macrofoulers that can quickly colonize new areas and
rapidly achieve high densities. The success of the introduction and proliferation of the zebra
mussel in North America can be partially related to the species' external fertilization and
planktonic larval stages ofits life history. These life stages are not typically found in indigenous,
native freshwater mussels but are typically found in marine bivalves (Ackerman 1995).
Furthermore, unlike native mussels that burrow in sand and gravel, zebra mussels spend their
adult lives attached to hard substrates that can include rocks, logs, aquatic plants, and the shells
of native mussels, as well as various man-made structures that contain plastic, wood, fiberglass,
and iron surfaces. The ability to attach to these various natural and man-made substrates along
with the species' high fecundity and passively dispersed planktonic veliger larval stage have
allowed zebra mussels to significantly change ecosystem trophic dynamics and spread rapidly
throughout the freshwater ecosystems. These changes have had various ecological and economic
impacts throughout North America (Ram and McMahon 1996).
Physical Description and Life History Traits
Classification and Morphology
The classification or taxonomy ofzebra mussels has been described as follows:
Class - Bivalvia, Subclass - Heterodonta
Order - Veneroida, Suborder - Dreissenacea
Superfamily - Dreissenoidea, Family - Dreissenidea
Genus - Dressiena, Subgenus - Dressiena s.l.
Species - D. polymorpha
IV-I Review ofZebra Mussel (Dreissella polYIIIOIpha) Species