shells together and is what actually manufactures them. Mussel shells consist of mainly calcium carbonate. To eat, mussels suck in water through their gills. The water brings oxygen and food into the mussel. Food is separated and taken to the palps then into the mouth. In females, gills also serve as an incubation chamber for baby mussels. Mussels also have a circulatory system powered by a two-chambered heart and a digestive system including: a stomach, intestines, and an anus. A nervous system consisting of ganglia controls the mussels’ body (Anatomy of Unionid Mussels). Zebra mussels come to America. Zebra mussels are native to the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea near Western Asia and Eastern Europe. When the shipping industry started, these
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Quagga mussels are very similar to Zebra mussels. They have right and left valves that open and close. These valves are usually a cream color or white with dark brown rings. The rings get thinner and disappear as they get closer to the hinge of the valves, which is usually all white. Quagga mussels have similar inner, soft parts as zebra mussels. Quagga mussels get their food by taking in water and siphoning out food particles; similarly to zebra mussels ( Quagga mussel (Dreissena rostriformis bugensis) – FactSheet). How they got to America. Quagga mussels originate in the Dnieper River drainage of Ukraine. Like the zebra mussels, they rode in the ballast tanks of large ships. They rode across the Atlantic Ocean and when ships released ballast water, they released the quagga mussels. Quagga mussels were first found in the United States in the Great Lakes in 1989. Since then, they have traveled across the United States through the movement of recreational boats. Both quagga and zebra mussels attach themselves to recreational boats and if undetected, can travel great distances to other waters that the boats are used in. These mussels can live three to five days without water without and lethal damage. If boats are not correctly cleaned off within those three to five days, and then used again in different waters, the quagga and zebra mussels will be spread
Quagga mussels are very similar to Zebra mussels. They have right and left valves that open and close. These valves are usually a cream color or white with dark brown rings. The rings get thinner and disappear as they get closer to the hinge of the valves, which is usually all white. Quagga mussels have similar inner, soft parts as zebra mussels. Quagga mussels get their food by taking in water and siphoning out food particles; similarly to zebra mussels ( Quagga mussel (Dreissena rostriformis bugensis) – FactSheet). How they got to America. Quagga mussels originate in the Dnieper River drainage of Ukraine. Like the zebra mussels, they rode in the ballast tanks of large ships. They rode across the Atlantic Ocean and when ships released ballast water, they released the quagga mussels. Quagga mussels were first found in the United States in the Great Lakes in 1989. Since then, they have traveled across the United States through the movement of recreational boats. Both quagga and zebra mussels attach themselves to recreational boats and if undetected, can travel great distances to other waters that the boats are used in. These mussels can live three to five days without water without and lethal damage. If boats are not correctly cleaned off within those three to five days, and then used again in different waters, the quagga and zebra mussels will be spread