1/19/2024 0 Comments History of zebra mussels![]() ![]() Let’s start with the science and then answer the more pertinent question. There are two answers to this question: the biological answer and the overarching answer. As they filter the water, pollutants like heavy metals or pesticides can get stuck and accumulate inside their shells. Eating zebra mussels is a health risk due to the fact that they are filter feeders. On a related note, one species that definitely can but really should not eat zebra mussels is us, Homo sapiens. ![]() Likely, the biggest predator here in the Midwest is the crayfish, which can eat dozens of small mussels. Of all the species that live here, only a few fish have ever been seen to eat zebra mussels (specifically smallmouth bass, yellow perch and red-ear sunfish), and even then they do not eat enough to make much of a difference. Here in northern Indiana, however, the list of organisms that can control the zebra mussel population is much, much more limited. Birds, fish and many other creatures consume these small crunchy-coated nuggets. Where they are from, zebra mussels have a whole host of natural predators. They can sort through what they want to eat and spit out all the rest in a mucous-covered mess, and they do not even have hands! We generally have enough trouble sorting through socks on laundry day imagine if we had to do that blindfolded, with our mouths? That is one of the interesting things about zebra mussels. What they pick out, they digest as food, and spit out the rest - including cyanobacteria (blue-green algae). After zebra mussels filter out all the particles from the water, they pick out their favorite bits like fish feces, bits of decaying organic matter and microscopic organisms. For us, it would be like turning a piece of cake into crumbs and “breathing” them in instead of just taking a bite. ![]() They eat by sucking in water, filtering out all the particles, and spitting out what they do not want (along with the water). Just like many other bivalves, zebra mussels are filter feeders. Zebra mussels have a distinctly triangular shape instead of a rounded shape. “Cousins” is a stretch, because the main difference between clams and mussels are the shape of the shell in fact, based on genetics, zebra mussels (and quagga mussels, which are sibling species) are more closely related to several types of saltwater clams than they are any other mussel. They are native to the Black Sea and Caspian Sea in eastern Europe, and have two half-shells that they protect themselves with, just like their clam, oyster and scallop cousins. ![]() Zebra mussels, or more specifically Dreissena polymorpha, are a species of freshwater bivalve. But they, just like every other clade, kingdom or culture, are special in their own important ways. They are annoying, they are not pleasant to have around, and they do not look immediately interesting. That is one of a couple issues with the invasive zebra mussels. Sometimes, though, that interest is overshadowed by frustration at the species or creature. Be it the glass houses of the diatoms, the air-permeable skin of frogs, or the intense complexity of the human eye, every living thing has intrinsic interest and intrigue. Each organism has something that makes it unique. Every creature is fascinating in its own way, including zebra mussels. ![]()
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