Responses of Ohio River and Lake Erie dreissenid molluscs to changes in temperature and turbidity

1998 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 220-229 ◽  
Author(s):  
James H Thorp ◽  
James E Alexander, Jr. ◽  
Bonny L Bukaveckas ◽  
Gary A Cobbs ◽  
Kurt L Bresko
Keyword(s):  
Climatic Change ◽  
Zebra Mussel ◽  
Dreissena Polymorpha ◽  
Lake Erie ◽  
Elevated Temperatures ◽  
Warm Season ◽  
Suspended Sediments ◽  
Quagga Mussel ◽  
Ohio River ◽  
River Population

To predict possible effects of global climatic change (via changes in ambient water temperatures and suspended sediments) on two exotic bivalves (zebra mussel, Dreissena polymorpha, and quagga mussel, Dreissena bugensis), we evaluated survival and growth at three temperatures (ambient, ambient + 2°C, and ambient + 4°C) and two turbidities (ambient and twice ambient) in outdoor tanks for approximately 3 months during both warm and cool seasons. We compared responses of zebra and quagga mussels from southwestern Lake Erie and zebra mussel from the Ohio River at Louisville, Kentucky. Experimental increases in temperature significantly enhanced growth rates in fall - early winter but not during summer - early fall. Elevated temperatures increased mortality in the warm season but not in the cool season. Zebra mussel survived better (especially the Ohio River population) than did quagga mussel at high temperatures. Inorganic turbidity had few detectable effects; relationships, where significant, varied with temperature and species. Based on these experiments and related laboratory studies, we predict that populations of Dreissena in the Ohio River and farther south will suffer overall if water temperatures increase. In contrast, more northern populations of Dreissena will probably benefit from predicted climatic change and may extend their range to higher latitudes and altitudes.

Invasion of Lake Erie Offshore Sediments by Dreissena, and Its Ecological Implications

1993 ◽  
Vol 50 (11) ◽  
pp. 2298-2304 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Dermott ◽  
M. Munawar
Keyword(s):  
Zebra Mussel ◽  
Dreissena Polymorpha ◽  
Lake Erie ◽  
Quagga Mussel ◽  
Central Basin ◽  
Eastern Basin ◽  
Fine Sediments ◽  
Ecological Implications ◽  
Large Populations ◽  
Hard Substrates

Large populations of the exotic rounded (noncarinate) shelled mussel of the genus Dreissena were found to exist on soft sediments collected throughout the central and eastern basins of Lake Erie during July and August 1992. Two different phenotypes were present on fine sediments (<150 μm) in the eastern basin. An elongated white morph was common on the profundal sediments beyond 40 m depth, while the "quagga" mussel was common on sand and sandy silt at depths between 10 and 30 m. Together with the carinated zebra mussel Dreissena polymorpha, which is very abundant on hard substrates in the sublittoral region, at least 80% of Lake Erie's bottom sediments have been invaded by Dreissena. Only that region of the central basin (near Cleveland) which undergoes periodic summer anoxia was not inhabited by this genus.

A new molecular technique for identifying field collections of zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) and quagga mussel (Dreissena bugensis) veliger larvae applied to eastern Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, and Lake Simcoe

1998 ◽  
Vol 76 (1) ◽  
pp. 194-198 ◽  
Author(s):  
W Trevor Claxton ◽  
Elizabeth G Boulding
Keyword(s):  
Zebra Mussel ◽  
Dreissena Polymorpha ◽  
Lake Erie ◽  
Lake Ontario ◽  
Pcr Primers ◽  
Quagga Mussel ◽  
Molecular Technique ◽  
Dreissena Bugensis ◽  
Lake Simcoe ◽  
Veliger Larvae

The veliger larvae of two introduced species of bivalves, the zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) and the quagga mussel (Dreissena bugensis), are difficult or impossible to tell apart morphologically. We have developed specific dreissenid polymerase chain reaction (PCR) primers from dreissenid bivalve DNA sequences, which amplify a region of the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I mitochondrial gene. Non-dreissenid mtDNA, as found in field-collected veliger samples, was not amplified by these new PCR primers. The DNA sequence of this region distinguishes zebra mussel from quagga mussel larvae. Restriction digests of this region using the enzyme ScrFI showed no intraspecies variation in restriction pattern. We used this technique to distinguish the species of veliger larvae collected in eastern Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, and Lake Simcoe. In our limited study, no quagga mussel larvae were found in Lake Simcoe, suggesting that this mussel species has not yet spread to the Kawartha Lake system. No zebra mussel larvae were found in either Lake Erie or Lake Ontario. These preliminary results add to the growing evidence that the quagga mussel is replacing the zebra mussel in parts of the lower Great Lakes.

Colonization, Ecology, and Population Structure of the "Quagga'' Mussel (Bivalvia: Dreissenidae) in the Lower Great Lakes

1993 ◽  
Vol 50 (11) ◽  
pp. 2305-2314 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward L. Mills ◽  
Ron M. Dermott ◽  
Edward F. Roseman ◽  
Donna Dustin ◽  
Eric Mellina ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Great Lakes ◽  
Zebra Mussel ◽  
Dreissena Polymorpha ◽  
Lake Erie ◽  
New York State ◽  
Lake Ontario ◽  
Quebec City ◽  
Quagga Mussel ◽  
Eastern Basin ◽  
St Lawrence River

An invasive dreissenid mussel given the working name of "quagga" has a present (spring 1993) distribution in the Laurentian Great Lakes from the western basin of Lake Erie to Quebec City. In Lake Erie, quaggas were collected as early as 1989 and now are most common in the eastern basin. In Lakes Erie and Ontario, proportions of quaggas increased with depth and decreasing water temperature. In the eastern basin of Lake Erie, quaggas outnumbered zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) by 14 to 1 in deeper waters (>20 m). In Lake Ontario, quaggas were observed at depths as great as 130 m, and both quagga and zebra mussel were found to survive at depths (>50 m) where temperatures rarely exceed 5 °C. Quaggas were sparse or absent along inland waterways and lakes of New York State. Mean shell size of quagga mussel was larger than that of zebra mussel at sites in the Niagara River, Lake Ontario, and the St. Lawrence River. The largest quaggas (38 mm) were observed in the St. Lawrence River at Cape Vincent.

scholarly journals Zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) selective filtration promoted toxic Microcystis blooms in Saginaw Bay (Lake Huron) and Lake Erie

2001 ◽  
Vol 58 (6) ◽  
pp. 1208-1221 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henry A Vanderploeg ◽  
James R Liebig ◽  
Wayne W Carmichael ◽  
Megan A Agy ◽  
Thomas H Johengen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Zebra Mussel ◽  
Dreissena Polymorpha ◽  
Lake Erie ◽  
Laboratory Strain ◽  
Zebra Mussels ◽  
Lake Huron ◽  
Feeding Rates ◽  
Saginaw Bay ◽  
Western Lake ◽  
Filtering Rates

Microcystis aeruginosa, a planktonic colonial cyanobacterium, was not abundant in the 2-year period before zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) establishment in Saginaw Bay (Lake Huron) but became abundant in three of five summers subsequent of mussel establishment. Using novel methods, we determined clearance, capture, and assimilation rates for zebra mussels feeding on natural and laboratory M. aeruginosa strains offered alone or in combination with other algae. Results were consistent with the hypothesis that zebra mussels promoted blooms of toxic M. aeruginosa in Saginaw Bay, western Lake Erie, and other lakes through selective rejection in pseudofeces. Mussels exhibited high feeding rates similar to those seen for a highly desirable food alga (Cryptomonas) with both large ( >53 µm) and small (<53 µm) colonies of a nontoxic and a toxic laboratory strain of M. aeruginosa known to cause blockage of feeding in zooplankton. In experiments with naturally occurring toxic M. aeruginosa from Saginaw Bay and Lake Erie and a toxic isolate from Lake Erie, mussels exhibited lowered or normal filtering rates with rejection of M. aeruginosa in pseudofeces. Selective rejection depended on "unpalatable" toxic strains of M. aeruginosa occurring as large colonies that could be rejected efficiently while small desirable algae were ingested.

Chaetogaster limnaei (Annelida: Oligochaeta) as a parasite of the zebra mussel Dreissena polymorpha, and the quagga mussel Dreissena bugensis (Mollusca: Bivalvia)

1996 ◽  
Vol 82 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Bruce Conn ◽  
Anthony Ricciardi ◽  
Mohan N. Babapulle ◽  
Kristine A. Klein ◽  
David A. Rosen
Keyword(s):  
Zebra Mussel ◽  
Dreissena Polymorpha ◽  
Quagga Mussel ◽  
Dreissena Bugensis

A method for reconstruction of zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) length from shell fragments

1992 ◽  
Vol 70 (12) ◽  
pp. 2486-2490 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diana J. Hamilton
Keyword(s):  
Zebra Mussel ◽  
Dreissena Polymorpha ◽  
Lake Erie ◽  
Strong Relationship ◽  
Zebra Mussels ◽  
Selective Predation ◽  
Diving Ducks ◽  
Point Pelee ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Shell Fragments

Zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) are subject to size-selective predation by several species of diving ducks and fish in Europe and North America. Ingested mussels are crushed, but the internal septum in the umbonal region of the mussel usually remains intact. Using mussels collected at Point Pelee, Lake Erie, I showed that there is a strong relationship between the length of the septum and of the mussel (r2 = 0.96). I compared this with a similar relationship developed for European zebra mussels and tested both models on mussels collected from Point Pelee and from Stoney Point, Lake St. Clair. Septal length relative to mussel length was greatest at Stoney Point and least at Point Pelee. The European estimates fell between the two. I concluded that to obtain accurate estimates of mussel length when investigating size-selective predation on zebra mussels, the relationship between mussel and septal lengths should be determined at each study location.

Development of macroinvertebrate community structure associated with zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) colonization of artificial substrates

1995 ◽  
Vol 73 (8) ◽  
pp. 1438-1443 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia A. Wisenden ◽  
Robert C. Bailey
Keyword(s):  
Community Structure ◽  
Shallow Water ◽  
Food Supply ◽  
Zebra Mussel ◽  
Dreissena Polymorpha ◽  
Lake Erie ◽  
Zebra Mussels ◽  
Artificial Substrates ◽  
Macroinvertebrate Communities ◽  
Protected Site

We used artificial substrates (rocks < 1500 cm2 surface area) in shallow water (2 m) to assess the development of epilithic macroinvertebrate communities in the presence of zebra mussels. At a turbulent site (Wheatley, Lake Erie), previously colonized (with a non-zebra mussel community) and uncolonized rocks left for 1 year both had lower densities of total invertebrates than previously colonized rocks recovered after only 1 day. As zebra mussels colonized the rocks, Gammarus sp. (amphipods) increased in density, while Chironomini and Tanypodinae (midges), Polycentropus sp. (caddisflies), and Physella sp. and Pleurocera sp. (snails) declined. At a protected site (Stoney Point, Lake St. Clair), previously colonized rocks initially (2 months) had higher densities of many taxa, including zebra mussels, than uncolonized rocks. This difference disappeared after 1 year, as zebra mussels increased on all rocks. Gammarus sp. maintained its numbers, while Tricladida (flatworms) increased and Oecetis sp. (caddisflies), Physella sp., Pleurocera sp., and Tanypodinae declined. Although a similar "zebra mussel – amphipod" community developed on rocks at both sites, we hypothesize that at the turbulent site, zebra mussels and amphipods have a shared tolerance of unstable habitats, and zebra mussels facilitate amphipod colonization of rocks by increasing microhabitat stability and food supply. At the protected site, zebra mussels outcompete other surface dwellers like snails for space, and facilitate the colonization of scavenger–omnivores like amphipods and flatworms.

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