Another invasive species, thanks alot Europe

[Giuga10]

(03-08-2013 12:27 PM)MuskieBait Wrote:  It's been here for a while actually.

"The quagga mussel was first sighted in the Great Lakes in September 1989, when one was found near Port Colborne, Lake Erie, though the recognition of the quagga type as a distinct species was not until 1991 (Mills et al. 1996). In August 1991, a mussel with a different genotype was found in a random zebra mussel sample from the Erie Canal near Palmyra, New York, and after confirmation that this mussel was not a variety of Dreissena polymorpha, the new species was named "quagga mussel" after the "quagga", an extinct African relative of the zebra (May and Marsden 1992). The quagga mussel has since been found in Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, Lake St. Clair, Saginaw Bay, and throughout the St. Lawrence River north to Quebec City. A 2002 survey of Lake Superior did not detect quagga mussel specimens (Grigorovich et al. 2003), but by 2005 the first quagga mussel was confirmed from Lake Superior in Duluth Superior Harbor (Grigorovich et al. 2008b)."

We have no one to blame by ourselves for not forcing the government to tighten and enforce ballast water release regulations...

And the exchange is mutual actually...Look at the number of North American species that made it to Europe, intentionally and unintentionally...that is causing a problem.

Look up some of the entries here...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_inv..._in_Europe

Note:

Amorpha fruticosa (Desert false indigo)
Ambrosia artemisiifolia (Amrosia artemisifolia)
Elodea canadensis (Canadian pondweed)
Gleditsia triacanthos (Honey locust)
Hydrocotyle ranunculoides (Floating pennywort)
Robinia pseudoacacia (Black locust)

Balanus improvisus (bay barnacle)

Orconectes limosus (also carried over crayfish plague with it)
Pacifastacus leniusculus (Signal crayfish)
Procambarus clarkii (Louisiana crawfish)

Branta canadensis (Canada goose)
Oxyura jamaicensis (Ruddy duck)

Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Colorado beetle)

Mustela vison (American mink)
Ondatra zibethicus (Muskrat)
Sciurus carolinensis (Grey squirrel)

Trachemys scripta elegans (Red-eared slider)

Ensis directus (American jack-knife clam)
Crepidula fornicata (Common slipper shell)

And then look at this...

http://www.necis.net/intro-to-invasive-s...-exported/

Diabrotica virgifera (Western corn rootworm)
Rana catesbeiana (North American bullfrog)
Mnemiopsis leidyi (Leidy’s comb jelly)
Micropterus salmoides (Largemouth bass)
Bonamia osteae (European oyster parasite)
Bursaphelenchus xylophilus (Pinewood nematode)
Euglandina rosea (Rosy wolfsnail)
Bidens frondosa (Devil’s beggartick)
Procambarus clarkii (Red swamp crayfish)

* The bullfrog, Eastern gray squirrel, Leidy’s comb jelly, and largemouth bass have all been nominated among 100 of the “World’s Worst” invaders by IUCN’s Invasive Species Specialist Group.

Who are we to point fingers? For every Asian Carp we fear about here in North America, there is equally a Largemouth Bass anglers fear about in Europe, Japan and Africa!

Also note...

"It is a voracious, carnivorous, solitary ambush predator that feeds both day and night. Its diet includes other fish, amphibians, insects, and any small living animal or bird that falls into the water. Largely because of the male’s care in building and guarding nests, many eggs survive, and a few adult can quickly populate new waters."

Sounds like the snakehead?

No...that's the description for Largemouth Bass under the above link!

Couldn't have said it better.