The zebra mussel, Dreissena polymorpha, is a small freshwater bivalve native to lakes of southern Russia and Ukraine, named for the dark, zigzag striping typical of its shell. It has spread widely beyond its native range, including a major invasion of the North American Great Lakes first detected in the late 1980s, where dense colonies clog water intake pipes and outcompete native mussel species.
Facts
Classification
Living or ExtinctDerived from this species' own Conservation Status: this atlas's IUCN category list has no Extinct value, so a set conservation-status is itself evidence of living status (w-bfill-g5-0924 browse backfill). Identification
Distinguishing AppearanceShells are D-shaped, attached to the substrate with strong byssal fibres from the umbo 1 Scientific Name Conservation Status Sources
1. Zebra mussel (Wikipedia)
Introduction
Dreissena polymorpha
Introduction, third sentence
Their shells are D-shaped, and attached to the substrate with strong byssal fibres
Wikidata claim, IUCN conservation status (P141)
least concern
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