REVISITING THE MIGHTY MUSSEL

The dreaded zebra mussel arrived this decade with tales of impending doom and ecological disaster for our waterways and industries.

So what happened? Not much, it seems. Paranoid scientists threw a farewell-to-the-river party and nobody came.

Not even the mussels.

The exotic zebra mussel does, of course, inhabit the Mississippi River throughout its border with Missouri and Illinois. But does it pose a significant risk to the environment or industry? The answer may depend upon who you ask.

According to Al Buchanan, an environmental services biologist for the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC), the fingernail size mussel is not aggressively attacking our waterways.

"So far, we don't have any infestations inside the border of Missouri, and no interior streams -- as far as we know," said Buchanan. "If they ever get into the Lake of the Ozarks, then you will really hear about it."

Scientists believe that the zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) arrived in the United States about 1988. Ships travelling from Europe probably carried the mussels in their ballast water and then dumped the water into the Great Lakes.

Before long, the mussels expanded their territory downstream by entering freshwater streams and rivers.

The rapid and expansive movement downstream alarmed fisheries biologists and put fear into river-based industries.

Great Lakes area water supply valves and intake pipes became clogged with the black-and-white striped mussel. An industrial and ecological nightmare of Hollywood proportions.

Because the mussels can attach themselves to almost any hard surface -- including concrete and metal -- municipalities with river-based industry believed disaster was imminent.

Eventually, the mussels spread into surrounding waterways - including the Mississippi River. Just three years later, in September of 1991, researchers discovered the mussels in St. Louis; two months later they arrived in Cape Girardeau.

"We first noticed zebra mussels in 1992 and in 1993 after the flood," said Lesley Conaway, a researcher at the MDC's LTRM station in Jackson.

According to Conaway, the zebra mussel population in the Mississippi River has stabilized and poses no real danger or immediate threat to native species.

"The mussel will probably not hurt fish populations in the river, but if they get into the lakes, they could hurt sport fishing," stated Conaway from her office in Jackson.

As the population of mussels stabilize in the river, the MDC is focusing on keeping the pesky little mollusks in the river and away from inland lakes.

"We completed a three month study of four lakes (Wappapello, Mark Twain, Lake of the Ozarks and Table Rock) to see where boats were coming from," explained Buchanan. "We found boats from 19 other states, including the Great Lakes area."

But not one zebra mussel.

According to Buchanan, the zebra mussel has an incredible ability to hitch a ride on a boat's hull or propeller -- only to hop out at the next lake or river.

Known as transference, researchers feel that it may be a matter of time before Missouri lakes are infested with the mollusks.

"The Missouri Department of Conservation is trying to educate people, especially boat owners and marina operators," Conaway said. "We don't have a lot of recreational boating on the Mississippi, so there is a low chance of transference to Missouri lakes."

When moving boats from one lake or stream to another, the MDC asks boaters to follow these procedures:

-Routinely clean and inspect hulls, propellers and trailers.

-Drain bilge water, live wells, and engine compartments.

-Empty bait buckets onto the land before moving to another area.

-Flush clean water through cooling systems and areas that get wet.

-Disinfect live wells, bilges, anchors, and trailers with hot water and bleach.

The tiny striped zebra mussel can be a fearsome ecological creature and worthy environmental opponent. Seemingly immune to biological control, only nature will decide its fate and course. Education, perhaps, will remain our most powerful tool in keeping its proliferation to a minimum.