Zebra mussel	Status LU: established. 1st record: <1892.
	Zebramuschel	Status Eur.: established.
	Moule zébrée	RA: ISEIA: A2, Black List. Harmonia+: n/a.
	Zebramuschel	Wikipedia: | Wikispecies: n/a | CABI
	Driehoeksmossel	Back to the list of invertebrates

Report the species

→ Report Dreissena polymorpha to the National Museum of Natural History.

Brief description

To date, D. polymorpha has been the most aggressive freshwater invader worldwide. Dreissenids are the only freshwater bivalves that attach to hard substrates in high densities and have a planktonic larval stage. This life history facilitates their abilities as invaders, and allows them to become enormously abundant when introduced into a new water body. Once introduced their populations can grow rapidly, and the total biomass of a population can exceed 10 times that of all other native benthic invertebrates. D. polymorpha is native to the drainage basins of the Black, Caspian and Aral Seas. During the nineteenth century its range has expanded westward to most of western Europe, the UK, and North America, where it is found in the Great Lakes and all major river drainages east of the Rocky Mountains and causes multiple economic impacts on fisheries, aquaculture, water attractions and aquatic transport (CABI 2019).

Status and distribution in Luxembourg

In Luxembourg, Dreissena polymorpha (Pallas, 1771) was first mentioned by Victor Ferrant in 1892 as occurring in the Moselle river (Ferrant 1892; Dhur & Massard 1995; MNHNL 2000-).

An identification sheet of the species has been published by the MECDD in French and German. A flyer about invasive mussels has been published by natur&ëmwelt.

Risk assessment

ISEIA protocol

A2 (3+3+3+3) = Black List (Ries et al. 2017: 68).

Harmonia+ protocol

Not assessed yet.

Worldwide distribution

Bibliography

• CABI, 2019. Dreissena polymorpha (Pallas, 1771). In: Invasive Species Compendium. Wallingford, UK: CAB International. URL: www.cabi.org/isc [accessed 2020-04-21]
• Dhur, G. & J.A. Massard, 1995. Étude historique et faunistique des Invertébrés immigrés ou introduits dans la Moselle luxembourgeoise et ses affluents. Bull. Soc. Nat. luxemb. 96: 127-156. [PDF 1896 KB]
• Ferrant, V., 1892. Beiträge zur Molluskenfauna des Grossherzogtums Luxemburg (Schluss). Bull. Soc. Nat. luxemb. 2: 21-26. [PDF 419 KB]
• MNHNL, 2000-. Dreissena polymorpha (Pallas, 1771) in Recorder-Lux, database on the natural heritage of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. Musée national d’histoire naturelle, Luxembourg. URL: https://mdata.mnhn.lu [Accessed 2019-10-24]
• MNHNL, iNaturalist & GBIF, 2019. Dreissena polymorpha (Pallas, 1771) in MNHNL-mdata, online portal combining species observation from Recorder-Lux, iNaturalist and GBIF. National Museum of Natural History, Luxembourg. URL: https://mdata.mnhn.lu [Accessed 2019-10-24]
• Ries, C., A. Arendt, C. Braunert, S. Christian, A. Dohet, A. Frantz, G. Geimer, M. Hellers, J. A. Massard, X. Mestdagh, R. Proess, N. Schneider & M. Pfeiffenschneider, 2017. Environmental impact assessment and black, watch and alert list classification after the ISEIA Protocol of invertebrates in Luxembourg. Bull. Soc. Nat. luxemb. 119: 63-70. [PDF 360 KB]