Zebra Mussels Research Paper

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Zebra Mussels look like small clams and have a yellowish or brownish “D” shape shell; usually, they have dark and light-colored strips. They can be up to two inches long, but most are less than one inch. They usually grow in clusters containing numerous individuals and are generally found in shallow (6-30 feet), algae-rich water. Zebra Mussels can be found in shallow water where they can primarily stuck to hard substrates such as rocks, dock pilings, boat hulls, water out late pipes, industrial plant intake structures, and also other species. Zebra Mussels can attach hard substrate to its abyssal threads. A single Zebra Mussel can have up to 200 byssal threads.

Zebra mussels are highly efficient filter feeders that feed on a variety of freshwater organisms depending upon their size. Small mussels feed primarily on phytoplankton, while larger mussels can consume both phytoplankton and small zooplankton (Pace et al. 2010).

1.2. Reproduction: …show more content…
Zebra Mussels generally reach their reproductive maturity at the end of their first year. Usually, zebra mussels released sperm and egg into the water during spring or summer. A female can lay over a million eggs during spawning season. Fertilization occurs after three to five days of realizing eggs and sperm. Eggs changed to free-swimming small planktonic larvae and this larva float in the water column for 4 to 5 weeks and begin to sink. It can crawl with its muscular foot and attached to hard substrate by its body threads. The larva developed its siphon, foot, organ system and blood. Morphological change is continued until it's its settling stages. Once zebra mussel is attached to any substrate, it is able to live at that place from 3 to 9

Zebra Mussels Research Paper

Clair.” Zebra Mussels scientific name is Dreissena polymorpha. They are native to the Caspian Sea Region in Asia. They arrived into the United States in the late 1980’, after transoceanic ships discharged contaminated ballast water. Within one year, these mussels colonized nearly every firm object in Lake Eerie. They made their way out of Lake Michigan into the Mississippi River basin with the help of the Chicago Sanitary Shipping Canal in 1992. Towards the end of 1992, Zebra mussels were found…

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Zebra Mussels Research Paper

in the Black Sea and Caspian Sea in Eurasia. Zebra mussels have become an invasive species in North America, Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, Spain, and Sweden. They disrupt the ecosystems by monotypic colonization, and damage harbors and waterways, ships and boats, and water treatment and power plants. Water treatment plants are most affected because the water intakes bring the microscopic free-swimming larvae directly into the facilities. Zebra mussels also cling to pipes under the water and clog…

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US15 Lecture Notes Session 2 Essay

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Causes of Water Pollution and Cures to Stop it Now Nature plays a role when it comes to toxins like mercury and other heavy metals, but humans are among the major causes of water pollution. We have always treated the planet with a certain level of disregard, as if we simply thought that nothing we could do would be of any consequence. Now though, the way we have treated our environment is coming back to haunt us. Since the beginning of the industrial revolution we have unleashed 80,000 chemical…

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