SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (kelo.com) – Zebra mussels are an invasive, fingernail-sized mollusk that is native to fresh waters in Eurasia. They are also a part of South Dakota’s waterways, but not in a beneficial way. Zebra mussels negatively impact ecosystems in many ways. In order for a zebra mussel to live, it must attach itself to a hard object. The mussels attach themselves to things like rocks, logs, and the hulls of ships. They filter out algae that native species need for food and they adhere to–and incapacitate–native mussels. Power plants, such as Gavin’s Point Dam in Yankton, must also spend millions of dollars removing zebra mussels from clogged water intakes. Their name comes from the dark, zigzag stripes on each shell.
Zebra mussels probably arrived in the Great Lakes in the 1980s via ballast water that was discharged by large ships from Europe. Officials say the mussels were first found in South Dakota in 2014 and have spread to new areas since then. The larvae of the mollusk are microscopic and spread via anything that moves from one body of water to another. This includes boats, dive gear and bait buckets.
The best thing a person can do to help stop this invasive species is to dry out all equipment they use for five days before going to a different body of water. This is to ensure potentially contaminated water from one place doesn’t move to another.
For those who are curious, these mussels are not good for eating. They eat via filtration, so anything they eat, including potentially hazardous material, would be passed on. Besides that, there’s not much meat on them and the shells are exceedingly sharp and difficult to work with.
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