![]() “It turns a nice sandy beach into a nasty, sharp, mussel-laden beach, so it’s not very fun for bare feet anymore. “When the zebra mussels get really well established and a lot of them are growing and dying, you end up with a ton of them on beaches,” Martin said. In some Great Lakes waterfront areas, property values have been impacted by zebra mussel infestations. The report came from a Seattle PetCo employee who found zebra mussels attached and inside Betta Buddy Marimo Ball moss plants. Zebra mussels have also been known to interfere with infrastructure, clogging pipes and costing hydroelectric facilities hundreds of millions of dollars in maintenance. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists were notified on Februthat zebra mussels were found attached and inside moss balls sold as aquarium plants. If zebra mussels were set loose in Alaska’s waterways, they could end up competing with salmon and other fish for food, Martin said. Like the filter-feeding zebra mussel, some juvenile fish also eat plankton. Not all zebra mussels attached these moss balls are readily visible to the eye, Martin said. Recently, moss balls containing zebra mussels were distributed across the U.S., having been discovered in at least 32 states, said Aaron Martin, regional invasive species program coordinator for the U.S. Zebra mussels are native to some of the same Eastern European freshwater environments as the species of algae that grows in dense balls commonly known as “moss balls.” As the mussels mature, they attach to a structure such as a moss ball. It is imperative that we take measures to ensure that this does not happen.” “It could be extremely detrimental to aquatic habits in Alaska if zebra mussels were inadvertently introduced in any freshwater system in the state. ![]() “Zebra mussels are considered a highly invasive species in Alaska and pose a great threat to the state’s freshwater environments,” said ADF&G invasive species coordinator Tammy Davis, in a release. Zebra mussels, named for their striped shells, have colonized areas around the Great Lakes and the Mississippi and Missouri river basins, lowering property values and interfering with hydroelectric power generation, according to an Alaska Department of Fish and Game report. An invasive species never before seen in Alaska has arrived by hitchhiking on moss balls used in aquariums. ![]()
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