Attack of the Killer Mollusks!

11/17/2009

Native and Invasive mussels and snails of the Ottawa National Forest OR

Species of Concern

There are at least six species of invasive mollusks currently on or near the Ottawa NF, or that could be introduced at any time from farther away. They include the:

Chinese Myyystery Snail Banded Mystery Snail New Zealand Mud Snail Attack of the killer Asian Clam mollusks! Zebra Mussel Quagga Mussel

SNAILS Chinese Mystery Snail (Cipangopaludina chinensis )

•Lake dwelling natives of Asia •Are quite large •Probably brought to North America via the aquarium trade, or as food •Can become nuisances during die- offs when large numbers of dead individuals are washed into piles by wave action •Have been found in Lac Vieux Desert, Runkle Lake, Weber Lake, and Moon Lake.

1 11/17/2009

Banded Mystery Snail New Zealand Mudsnail (Viviparous georgiana) (Potamopyrgus antipodarum)

• Native to the southern United States

• Quite a bit smaller than the Chinese • Native to New Zealand mystery snail (CMS) • In North America, primarily found in western NA • Has distinctive banding running • RlRecently fdfound in DDluluth , MN, not on around the snail Ottawa yet!

• Like the CMS, it also has die-offs • Very tiny but can reach enormous densities (100,000‐750,000/m2) resulting in “windrows” of dead snails • Can account for as much as 95% of invertebrate biomass • Has been found in Lake Gogebic, • Very easy to spread Lac Vieux Desert, and Lake Emily (e.g. mud on boots)

MUSSELS and CLAMS Asian Clam (Corbicula fluminea)

• Distinctive yellow-green mussels of Asian origin, probably introduced in the 1920’s

• Not in our area yet but very widespread

• Commonly found in sand or mud bottomed streams

• Large numbers can cause bio- fouling, much like zebra mussels, although they do not attach to substrates

Zebra Mussel Zebra Mussels: Ecological Impacts (Dreissena polymorpha )

They attach to ANY hard surface • Native of Caspian Sea region • Brought to NA in ballast water in 1988 • Small, with very distinctive striped pattern on shell . • Filter and clarify water • Can reach densities of 10,000- 700,000/m2 • Easily spread on boat hulls, bilge water, motor coolant water, etc. • Recently found in Hagerman Lake, also in Chicagon Lake They are a very and Fortune Pond in Iron serious threat to County native mussels

2 11/17/2009

Fortune Pond Chicagon Lake

Quagga Mussel Hagerman Lake (Dreissena bugensis) • Native of Caspian Sea region • Discovered in Lake Michigan in 2002, not in this area yet! • Small, similar to zebra mussel but lacks stripes • Prefer colder, deeper water than zebra mussel (500’+) • Can grow on anything except soft mud • In areas were they co‐occur, Quagga Mussel quagga mussels out‐compete zebra mussels

Zebra Mussel

Quagga Mussels: Ecological Impacts NATIVE MUSSELS

The Ottawa NF has a variety of native pearly mussels (Family Unionidae) so-called because of the pearly nacre inside the shell.

Clostridium Botulinum bacteria, which is filtered by… They include the: QaggaQuagga mu ssels, which Cladophora blooms decay and produce… are eaten by… Fatmucket (Lampsilis siliquoidea) Cylindrical papershell (Anodontoides ferussacianus) Giant Floater (Pyganodon grandis) Creek Heelsplitter (Lasmigona compressa) Common loons, which die White Heelsplitter (Lasmigona complanata) from the bio‐ Flutedshell Mussel (Lasmigona costata) accumulated Round goby, which Botulism toxin in turn are eaten by…

3 11/17/2009

Fatmucket Cylindrical Papershell

Sexes are dimorphic Male

Female shell

Female

They are called papershells because their shells are very thin and delicate. Probably our most common mussel. Can be found in streams and lakes. Moderately common.

Giant Floater Creek Heelsplitter

Keel

They are so‐named because they are quite large, up to 10” long. Usually found in lakes and impoundments. Named after the somewhat elevated keel, which looks like it could split your heel, this stream dweller can get fairly large, 4-5”. Moderately rare.

White Heelsplitter Flutedshell Mussel

Now this one looks like it could split a heel! Rare. Found in larger rivers, such as the main stem of the Ontonagon River, this one is named for the fluted ridges on the shell. Rare.