U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
Quagga Mussels
David K. Britton, Ph.D.Southwest Regional Assistant AIS CoordinatorFisheries & Aquatic Resource Conservation
Western Invasion Update
Photo Credit: Wen Baldwin, Lake Mead NRA Volunteer
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
Outline
Invasion Update– National Parks Response Plan– New Infestations– Status of Lake Powell– Veliger Monitoring– At-Risk Locations
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
Lake Mead NRA
Adult mussels covering boat hulls in Boulder Basin
Veliger larvae densities dramatically increased
U.S. Fish & Wildlife ServiceQuagga Mussels Veliger Density
Lake Mead National Recreation Area, 2007
Month
April May June July
Vel
iger
Den
sity
(V
elig
ers
per
Lit
er)
Not
e Lo
garit
hmic
Sca
le
0.1
1
10
100
1000Sandy Point Echo Bay Temple BarHoover Dam Shallow Hoover Dam Deep Willow Beach Placer Cove Cottonwood Cove Katherine Landing
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior – Bureau of Reclamation
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
NPS Quagga Response Plan http://www.nature.nps.gov/biology/
Quagga
1. Introduction2. Partnerships and Communications 3. Situation Analysis and Resulting Actions 4. Preventing Q/Z Mussel Infestations 5. Monitoring and Detecting Infestations 6. Response to a Mussel Infestation 7. Safety Considerations8. Financial Considerations
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
Glen Canyon NRA Modified Portland Artificial Substrate Samplers
– 9 to 15 Portland Samplers have been maintained in Lake Powell at Marina and other access areas since 2002.
– Samplers were modified to reach deeper depths (about 40ft or 15m) in 2007.
– To date, no signs of mussels have been found on the samplers. Plankton Sampling for Veliger Detection –
– Over 50 Lake Powell-relevant plankton tows have been collected for veliger analysis since June 2007:
Many of these samples have not yet been processed, but indications of mussel veligers have been found in some samples. Results are summarized in the tables below.
Dive Surveys– Diver Boat Inspections - Over 500 boats in the Wahweap Marina
have been inspected No mussels have been found during boat inspections.
– Deep Dives - About ten deep dives following marina cables to concrete weights have been conducted to about 40m (130ft) under the Wahweap Marina.
No mussels have been found in deep dives.– Submarine Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) Surveys – Five sites in the submerged canyon below Wahweap Marina
have been searched by ROV at depths up to about 70m (240ft). No mussels have been found.
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
Parker Dam, Lake Havasu Glen Tuerschmann,
Parker Dam Facility Manager
Mussels are beginning to establish themselves in the dam facilities
Test Plates were cleaned on 6/28/08. This picture taken on 8/6/08
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
Havasu SpringsLarry [Riley],
Two observations:
BOR recently assisted us in restoration of the public fishing dock at Havasu Springs. Quagga mussels were recovered and reported (eyeball estimation) to cover the bottom of the dock at densities approaching 6 per square inch.
Today, I pulled the 2 inch pipe sampler. The sampler was placed at the boat dock at Partner's Point at a measured depth of 10 feet. Seechi disc transparency at this location is the bottom, i.e. 18 feet. The sampler was in the water for a total of 45 days. There were 213 mussels attached varying in size from just visible to 12 mm. Only 4 mussels were located on the outside of the sample. The inside walls held 97 while the lace material contained the rest. In several places they were actually clumped several mussels deep with varying sizes.
Doug AdamsFisheries BiologistBLM - Lake Havasu City Field Office
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
On-line Training Certificate
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
Early Detection: PCR Analysis Determines presence or absence of zebra/quagga mussel
larvae The current techniques used are over ten years old
– Process is not cutting-edge– Requires more technical time than necessary – Costs are an order of magnitude too high – Improvements Can be Made
BOR needs $60,000 for research to develop improvements which will decrease costs (to $20 - $30) and increase accuracy of each PCR analysis
Once developed these techniques and processes would be available for use by any microbiology lab
Estimated time necessary for improvements is 6 months. “This could be another big step ahead in our efforts to monitor
and detect presence of zebra/quagga mussels when incipient populations may be vulnerable to eradication efforts.” – Bob Pitman– This would truly give us “early detection and rapid
response” capacity
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
Southwest Sample Locations
