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Mackie, G. L., 1996. A Review of Impacts of Freshwater Mollusca (Gastropoda and Bivalvia) Introduced Into North America, University of Guelph Abstract from The Sixth International Zebra Mussel and Other Aquatic Nuisance Species Conference, Dearborn, Michigan, March 1996 A Review of Impacts of Freshwater Mollusca (Gastropoda and Bivalvia) Introduced Into North AmericaOf 755 freshwater mollusk species in North America, approximately 3% (22 species) are introduced. Of 485 species of gastropods, 15 are introduced and of 270 species of bivalves, 7 are introduced. The bivalves, especially Corbicula fluminea, Dreissena polymorpha, and Dreissena bugensis, have caused severe ecological and or socio-economic impacts. Some snails, such as Pomacea canaliculata, have the potential to cause severe crop damages; others, such as Biomphalaria glabrata, Marisa cornarietis, Melanoides tuberculata, and P. canaliculata are intermediate hosts of infectious bacteria, digean or nematode parasites of humans. Most of the remaining exotic species are relatively benign (i.e. compared to the 3 bivalve and 4 gastropod species above) and appear to have served to increase molluscan diversity in a variety of habitats. Within the Great Lakes these include the gastropods, Bythinia tentaculata, Valvata piscinalis, Cipangopaludina chinensis malleatus, and Radix auricularia and the bivalves, Pisidium amnicum, Pisidium supinum and Sphaerium corneum. The most recent introduced mollusk to the Great Lakes is Potamopyrgus antipodarum, a hydrobiid snail native to New Zealand; it was first collected in Lake Ontario in 1991 but only recently (1995) reported.
Key Words: Bivalve, Nonindigenous, Ecological_interactions |