Zebra mussels have been in Kansas for 20 years -- and they're not going away; the tiny species is making a big impact in Kansas’ creeks and lakes.
Many waterways in Kansas are infested with this invasive species that has proven to be nearly impossible to remove, despite the best efforts of biologists. This species costs the Sunflower State millions of dollars every year, according to information from the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks.
Zebra mussels have been found in Lake Cheney, El Dorado Lake, Lake Afton, Winfield City Lake, and Wellington City Lake.
Zebra mussels have the appearance of small clams that are around an inch or less in length with a D-shaped shell. Once zebra mussels reach adulthood, they latch onto hard, non-moving objects.
Zebra mussels like to live on solid structures and eat plankton in the water, taking away valuable resources for natural Kansas aquatic species
This strain of mussels comes from the Black and Caspian seas in Europe; they were first introduced to American waters in 1988 by ships on the Great Lakes.
The mussels were first spotted in Kansas in 2003 at the El Dorado reservoir. From there, they have successfully spread to 35 other bodies of water in Kansas, likely from boaters traveling between bodies of water.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service considers zebra mussels to be one of the most destructive invasive species in North America.
Water treatment plants and power plants are hit hard by the mussels because they tend to gather in pipes beneath the facilities, clogging them up. Workers then need to remove the mussels while the plants are forced to adapt their maintenance strategies in response to the infestation.
Zebra mussels cost power plants more than $145 million every year, costs eventually passed on to power customers.
The mussels filter feed while in the water, sucking up nutrients like plankton that native species rely on for sources of food. This filtering effect leaves the water clearer than it was before, which can lead to the destruction of fish eggs due to more prevalent UV rays from the sun. The mussels can also lead to more harmful algae blooms, which bring higher levels of toxicity to Kansas bodies of water.
A single female zebra mussel can create more than a million eggs per year. The larvae is microscopic, and they have no natural predators.