Arkansas - Colorado State Parks Zebra Mussel Response_Application

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Appearance The quagga is small, rarely more than an inch long, and it looks like a little clam, which attaches itself with a viciously tight grip to any solid surface. Veligers, invisible to the naked eye and seen only with the aid of a microscope, are captured, in what are probable habitat, with plankton nets equipped with a 64-micron mesh '('. - that is each opening in the net is 64 microns in size. For ~~ comparison, a micron is equal to one millionth of a meter, \~, I,G or 1/25,000th of an inch; a typical single strand of human hair is approximately 70 to 75 microns in diameter. This stage in their lives is also the time at which the mussels are most vulnerable. In all 1,000 liters of water are filtered through the plankton net at each site to obtain 500 milliliter samples. The collected water samples are then shipped to the Denver Office for analysis. Between sample collections, all monitoring equipment is bathed and cleansed in simple household vinegar, since the veligers cannot live in acidic conditions. The collected water samples are then shipped to the Denver Office for analysis. In all 1,000 liters of water are collected for analysis. Between sample collections, all monitoring equipment is bathed and cleansed simple household vinegar, since the veligers cannot live in an acidic conditions. ABOVE: A 12-inch long steel monitoring plate retrieved from near Parker Dam is encrusted with quagga mussels. BELOW: A Davis Dam gate is literally coated with quagga mussels. LCR photos courtesy of Leonard Willett and infrastructure of the region," said Jim Stolberg, a general biologist in the Lower Colorado River Multi- species Conservation Program Office (LCR MSCP). Researchers say quagga mussels prefer still water, which makes reservoirs their preferred habitat rather than flowing rivers. They also need a route of entry. Usually, that means hitchhiking on a boat or in the bilge water of a boat transported from lake to lake. "Its young, known as 'veligers,' require calcium to build a shells and plankton for food," said Stolberg. So, certain areas of the Colorado River make ideal breeding locations for them. How Do They Exist? Existing research results indicate mussels eat by filtering tiny organisms out of the water and reproduce by sending clouds of eggs and sperm into the water which, when fertilized, settle nearby, latch on and start growing. A single female can lay a million eggs a year, resulting in massive colonies. Researchers say quagga mussels pose no health risk to the drinking-water supply, but they can alter the food chain of a body of water, which can lead to algae growth and poor-tasting drinking water. And since they multiply quickly, they are capable of clogging pipes and screens at power stations, water treatment plants and