Dreissena bugensis

The quagga mussel Dreissena bugensis, like the zebra mussel and many other recent invaders, is native to the Black & Caspian Seas (i.e. Ponto-Caspian) region. Quagga mussels are competitively displacing the native burrowing amphipod Diporeia hoyi from the deep waters of Lake Erie. They compete with zebra mussels and now dominate exotic mussel assemblages in the Great Lakes and in some areas of the St. Lawrence River (Jones & Ricciardi 2005; Ricciardi & Whoriskey 2004).  Remarkably, this species has since been discovered in the Colorado River of Nevada and California, over 2400 km from the nearest source population in Lake Michigan.