Zebra Mussels

[Dewit2it]

I found a 1/4" zebra mussel on a rock in Redgranite last summer.  Where there's one, there's a billion more on the way.  Keep your gear clean!!!

It should be interesting to see what happens if they're reproducing in Redgranite.  It may be the end for the freshwater jellies, but then again, they have two ways of reproducing, so the mussels might not finish them.  The adults are also zooplankton feeders so the ZM larvae may be food for them.

Another interesting thing to the ZM problem may be calcium levels in the water.  If there's not enough calcium available the mussels may not be able to form shells, and in that case they're toast.

In any case, keep an eye on the rocks at Redgranite.

On Skumbago, I have had a front row seat on the invasion there.  In the bay I live on, the mussels grew wildly at first, with large amounts of full grown adults seen on the rocks.  Now, you see much smaller mussels in the 1/4-5/8" size range.  Most colonized rocks have only one layer of the mussels and very few on the tops of the rocks.  The tops of the rocks have large deposits of silt on them.  This silt seems to be from the feeding habits of the mussels, as it always seems to return after it should have been washed off after storms.  This may be preventing colonization of surfaces that in other areas, would have two or more layers of them.  I have noted that areas of the bay have filled in rapidly in the last 10 years.  Some spots are dry that were 5' deep.  So in some cases, they are causing themselves problems.