Aquatic Invasions (2012) Volume 7, Issue 1: 91–100 doi: 10.3391/ai.2012.7.1.010 (Open Access) © 2012 The Author(s). Journal compilation © 2012 REABIC Proceedings of the 17th International Conference on Aquatic Invasive Species (29 August-2 September 2010, San Diego, USA) Research Article Impact of the invasive golden mussel (Limnoperna fortunei) on phytoplankton and nutrient cycling Daniel Cataldo1,2,3,*, Inés O´ Farrell1,2,, Esteban Paolucci2,3, Francisco Sylvester1,2 and Demetrio Boltovskoy1,2,3 1 Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, 1428 Buenos Aires, Argentina 2 Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Argentina 3 Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales “Bernardino Rivadavia”, Argentina E-mail:
[email protected] (DC),
[email protected] (IOF),
[email protected] (EP),
[email protected] (FS),
[email protected] (DB) *Corresponding author Received: 20 March 2011 / Accepted: 26 May 2011 / Published online: 6 June 2011 Abstract In order to evaluate the effects of the golden mussel Limnoperna fortunei on phytoplankton density and composition and nutrient recycling we conducted a 24 h filtration experiment in Río Tercero Reservoir (Argentina) using four 400 L mesocosms, two of them stocked with 1700-1800 adult mussels each, and two controls (without mussels). Nutrient concentrations and phytoplankton composition and density were evaluated at 0, 3, 6, 12, and 24 h. Estimated filtration rates were 1.48-3.14 mL mg DW-1 h-1. Grazing pressure by the mussel was not associated with algal taxonomy or cell size.