Notes
Slide Show
Outline
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Range Expansion and Colonization of the Green Mussel, Perna viridis, Along the West Coast of Florida
  • Amy J. Benson, U.S. Geological Survey, Gainesville, Florida
  • Debra A. Ingrao, Mote Marine Laboratory, Sarasota, Florida
  • Marc A. Blouin, U.S. Geological Survey, Ann Arbor, Michigan
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No systematic studies have been done on the nonindigenous marine invertebrates of Florida.
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No marine organism, once established, has ever been successfully removed or eradicated in the US.
  • Predation
  • Competition
  • Disturbance
  • Diseases and parasites
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3 species of Perna worldwide
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Perna Species Historic Distributions
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Perna viridis
  • Temperature:  26o-32o C optimal
  • LC50: 10o and 36o C after 2 weeks exposure
  • Salinity:  27-33 ppt, can tolerate 20 ppt for short periods (rain, floods)
  • Depth: surface to 10 m
  • Reproduction: dioecious broadcast spawner, free-swimming 2-3 weeks, sexually mature 2-3 months (~20 mm)
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Where to look for green mussels
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On fish attractor buoys . . .
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On bridges . . .
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On navigational aids . . .
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On center bridge span guides . . .
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In seawater intakes . . .
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On dock pilings . . .
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On riprap shorelines . . .
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On concrete rubble . . .
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On a submersed crab trap . . .
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On soft sediments . . .
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. . . and on the bottom.
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Byssal mats can be problematic
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Discovered during routine maintenance at power plants
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U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Joshua Appleby
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Maintenance of aids to navigation
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Maintenance of seawater intakes
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Impacts
  • More time, effort, and money will have to go into routine maintenance of seawater systems, docks, seawalls, buoys, etc.


  • Natural systems not easy to predict, may see a shift in phytoplankton assemblage due to filter feeding
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Some Other Mollusks Collected with Green Mussels
  • Common Atlantic oyster   Crassostrea virginica
  • Hooked mussel   Ischadium recurvum
  • Scorched mussel   Brachiodontes exustus


  • Common slipper-shell   Crepidula fornicata
  • Easter white slipper-shell   Crepidula plana
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Lemons into Lemonade
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Food for Thought ?
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"Fiji"
  • Fiji
  • French Polynesia
  • New Caledonia
  • Tonga
  • Samoa
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Perna viridis
  • First discovered in Tampa area power plant intakes July 1999
  • Cultured intensively in Thailand and Philippines for food
  • Probable ballast
  •    water introduction
  •    Surviving in cooler
  •    temperatures
  •    Reproducing and spreading out of the bay
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What Can We Do?
  • Be careful not to transport them with marine aquaculture products
  • Do not transport them on the hull of your boat or in live wells
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Veined Rapa Whelk
Rapana venosa
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