zebra mussels
Striped freshwater pests
Zebra mussels are small freshwater mollusks with distinctive striped shells, native to Eastern Europe but now invasive throughout North America and Western Europe.
They colonize pipes, boat hulls, and native shellfish in dense clusters, clogging water systems and devastating local ecosystems: The lake's been overrun with zebra mussels.
Organisms straining food from water
- bivalvesTwo-shelled mollusks
- planktonDrifting marine microlife
- water clarityLiquid's optical transparency
- phytoplanktonPhotosynthetic aquatic drifters
biodiversity loss · competition · food web · bioaccumulation · bottom-dwelling · benthic · lakes · rivers
Harmful non-native organism
- infestationPest takeover situation
- colonizationForeign territorial takeover
- spreadTo distribute widely
- non-nativeNot indigenous here
dispersal · proliferation · hitchhiking · contamination · introduction · Great Lakes · vectors · transport
Hardened surface deposit
- pipesCylindrical fluid carriers
- cloggingObstructing a passage
- infrastructure damageHarm to foundational structures
- cooling systemsMechanisms that dissipate heat
hulls · boats · docks · buoys · antifouling · coatings · attachment · colonies
filter-feeders
Organisms straining food from water
- bivalvesTwo-shelled mollusks
- planktonDrifting marine microlife
- water clarityLiquid's optical transparency
phytoplankton · biodiversity loss · competition · food web · bioaccumulation · bottom-dwelling · benthic · lakes · rivers · freshwater
invasive species
Harmful non-native organism
- infestationPest takeover situation
- colonizationForeign territorial takeover
- spreadTo distribute widely
non-native · dispersal · proliferation · hitchhiking · contamination · introduction · Great Lakes · vectors · transport · quarantine
encrustation
Hardened surface deposit
- pipesCylindrical fluid carriers
- cloggingObstructing a passage
- infrastructure damageHarm to foundational structures
cooling systems · hulls · boats · docks · buoys · antifouling · coatings · attachment · colonies · buildup
- invertebratesinvertebrate, arthropod, arthropods, mollusk, crustacean
- bivalvesclams, clam, scallops, cockles, oyster
- pond lifetadpoles, fish, frog, frogs, algae
- invasive speciesinvasive species, lionfish, emerald ash borer, noxious weeds, kudzu
- Lake OntarioToronto, Rochester, Kingston, Hamilton, Niagara River
- marine pestsbarnacles, sea lice, lionfish, green crab, Asian carp