Don't move a mussel - a tiny invader is threatening British water and wildlife
Don't move a mussel - a tiny invader is threatening British water and wildlife - The Ecologist
theecologist.org - 'Don't move a mussel!' - warning notice at Lake Mead, Nevada.
(Quagga mussels encrusting jetty on Lake Mead, Nevada.)
The zebra and quagga mussels, exotic invaders from the Caspian, are already causing huge damage in North America by 'biofouling' and disrupting native ecosystems, writes Yannic Rack. And now Britain is having to gear up for an impending invasion that threatens a costly meltdown of our aquatic biodiversity.
Invasive species are the second biggest threat to biodiversity after habitat loss. The zebra and quagga mussels are no exception - the latter smothers and chokes other mussels to death.
On September 29, 2014, Samantha Ho was wading through the Wraysbury River, a shallow stream that runs just a few miles south of the busy tarmac at London's Heathrow Airport. She was collecting a 'kick' sample, a routine at a designated point that is visited once or twice a year, for the Environment Agency.
But this time was different: among the mud and grass Ho found a small mussel, no bigger than a thumbnail, which looked vaguely familiar.
"I separated it out and carried on", she says. "The fact that it was an unusual environment - fast-flowing, not a canal - and that I had sampled there before and not found it, were all things that roused my suspicion." She brought it back to the lab and a quick check online confirmed it: she had found a quagga mussel.
Although it was a long way from home, the mussel's arrival had been anticipated by ecologists for a while. It's one of a number of non-native species that are increasingly making their way to Britain and posing a considerable threat to native plants and animals.
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I remember 30 years ago mussels (zebra mussels, I think) were creating big problems in Great Lakes clogging pipes, etc. One conditional positive -- they cleared Lake Erie a bit but made fishing worse (water too clear).
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= new reply since forum marked as read
Picture a clam shell the size of your pinky fingernail.
Cute little guys but, before you know it, they're everywhere! 
Eventually killing their host.
http://fl.biology.usgs.gov/Nonindigenous_Species/Zebra_mussel_FAQs/zebra_mussel_faqs.html
Most clams and mussels are edible, but that does not mean they taste good! Many species and fish and ducks eat zebra mussels, so they are not harmful in that sense. Zebra mussels are so small and do not have much in the way of "meat" inside them, you would have to be pretty hungry to want to eat them. However, because they are filter feeders, they can accumulate pollutants in their tissues that may not be healthy for people to consume. You should contact local public health officials to learn whether it is safe to eat mussels or fish from a specific waterbody. Therefore to be safe, it is not recommend they be eaten by people.
