Originally Posted By: brier
I would like them in my pond, but that is a matter of preference. I just see them as another part of a balanced ecosystem. And here in the US, freshwater mussels need all of the help they can get. I believe they are our most endangered class of fauna.


Endangered? In the Great Lakes region zebra mussels are highly invasive and a big problem.

"Zebra and quagga mussels have been making a particular mess of the Great Lakes ecosystem and economy since they were discovered in the late 1980s. The filter-feeding machines have cost this region billions of dollars by plugging industrial water intake pipes, starving fish populations and spawning noxious algae outbreaks that have trashed some of the Midwest's most prized shoreline."http://www.jsonline.com/news/usandworld/40037927.html

ETA: I just read that zebra mussels have eliminated all of the native mussels in Lake St. Clair so the native mussels probably are endangered. I don't know what would keep them in check in a pond and they might get overwhelming. If the zebra mussels can be removed from the lake they hope to re-establish the native mussels that can still be found in inland ponds.

Last edited by loretta; 09/27/10 05:38 PM.
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