Quagga mussel
Overview
Aquatic animal
An aquatic animal is an animal, either vertebrate or invertebrate, which lives in water for most or all of its life. It may breathe air or extract its oxygen from that dissolved in water through specialised organs called gills, or directly through its skin. Natural environments and the animals that...
bivalve mollusk.
It is one of seven Dreissena
Dreissena
Dreissena is a genus of small freshwater mussels in the family Dreissenidae.-Species:* Dreissena polymorpha, the zebra mussel** Dreissena polymorpha polymorpha** Dreissena polymorpha andrusovi* Dreissena bugensis, the quagga mussel...
species and has an average life span of 3 to 5 years.
This subspecies is indigenous to the Dnieper River
Dnieper River
The Dnieper River is one of the major rivers of Europe that flows from Russia, through Belarus and Ukraine, to the Black Sea.The total length is and has a drainage basin of .The river is noted for its dams and hydroelectric stations...
drainage of Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
. The species is named after the quagga
Quagga
The quagga is an extinct subspecies of the plains zebra, which was once found in great numbers in South Africa's Cape Province and the southern part of the Orange Free State. It was distinguished from other zebras by having the usual vivid marks on the front part of the body only...
, an extinct subspecies of African zebra
Zebra
Zebras are several species of African equids united by their distinctive black and white stripes. Their stripes come in different patterns unique to each individual. They are generally social animals that live in small harems to large herds...
, possibly because, like the quagga, its stripes fade out towards the ventral side.
The quagga mussel is currently of major concern in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
as an invasive species
Invasive species
"Invasive species", or invasive exotics, is a nomenclature term and categorization phrase used for flora and fauna, and for specific restoration-preservation processes in native habitats, with several definitions....
.
The quagga mussel shell is striped, as is that of the zebra mussel
Zebra mussel
The zebra mussel, Dreissena polymorpha, is a small freshwater mussel. This species was originally native to the lakes of southeast Russia being first described in 1769 by a German zoologist Peter Simon Pallas in the Ural, Volga and Dnieper rivers. They are still found nearby, as Pontic and Caspian...
, but the quagga shell is more pale toward the end of the hinge.
Unanswered Questions
