Zebra Mussels in WA

[Scaperoot]

Just saw this posted on Reddit: 

Zebra mussels found at Renton pet store, alert issued in WA | FOX 13 Seattle

I was thinking of ordering some moss balls but I guess I'll hold off until this is resolved. Hopefully this hasn't affected the ACO and their store. 

 

[mynameisnobody]

I am never in the market for a moss ball, but I was placing an ACO order and had it in my cart for shipping reasons. At the last second I swapped it for a different plant and now I’m glad I did. Not to say anyone else is affected by this but I don’t want to be anywhere near zebra mussels. 

[Mississippi fish guy]

Do moss balls and zebra mussels come from the same place?

[Biotope Biologist]

On 8/21/2024 at 1:46 PM, Mississippi fish guy said:

Do moss balls and zebra mussels come from the same place?

Yeah Japan. Japan and Washington state have very similar biomes so we are hyper vigilant of invaders. Although many of the garden variety plants we get here of Japanese and Chinese origin are considered “introduced.”

 

So it depends on whether we think they may cause harm or if they can assimilate into the environment. Im pretty sure marimo moss balls were banned for a hot minute in the 2010s for similar fears but that ban was lifted as they do not seem to be able to reproduce well in our lakes and rivers. But I also can’t find any documentation of them actually being banned

Edited August 22 by Biotope Biologist

[OnlyGenusCaps]

Technically, I believe zebra mussels are not native to Japan.  They are part of the Euxine and Caspian faunas, as well as surrounding drainage basins.  But they sure are good at getting around!  Apologies for the pedantic reply. 

[clownbaby]

On 8/22/2024 at 8:37 AM, Biotope Biologist said:

Yeah Japan. Japan and Washington state have very similar biomes so we are hyper vigilant of invaders. Although many of the garden variety plants we get here of Japanese and Chinese origin are considered “introduced.”

 

So it depends on whether we think they may cause harm or if they can assimilate into the environment. Im pretty sure marimo moss balls were banned for a hot minute in the 2010s for similar fears but that ban was lifted as they do not seem to be able to reproduce well in our lakes and rivers. But I also can’t find any documentation of them actually being banned

Yes, they were! I remember in 2021 when I was first getting into live plants that my local petco paused sale on marimo because of a zebra mussel infestation. I was bummed. Didn't care much about conservation back then unfortunately. Glad I changed.