Quagga quandary solved

From December 17, 1993 (update #19)

PHILADELPHIA, Pa.-The zebra mussel-like animal that was called the "quagga mussel" when first discovered in North America in 1991 has finally been identified. Working independently, two groups of scientists concluded that the animal is the European species of Dreissenid mussel, Dreissena bugensis. Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences malacologist Gary Rosenberg and Mikhail Ludyanskiy of Marine Biocontrol Corporation searched Russian scientific literature and found that the quagga mussel corresponds exactly to the original 1897 description and illustrations of Dreissena bugensis. Additional study of museum specimens confirmed this identification.

A second group of Cornell University-associated scientists-Adrian Spidle, Ellen Marsden and Bernie May-found that "quagga mussels" collected from Lake Ontario were genetically similar to specimens of Ukrainian Dreissena bugensis. The Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences will publish both groups' findings. The scientists also plan to discuss their work at the Fourth International Zebra Mussel Conference in Madison, Wis., next spring.

ID: 19931217-7.

The Zebra Mussel Update was a 4- to 8-page quarterly national newsletter published by the University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute from May 1990 through May 1997. The ZMU documented the spread of the zebra mussel -- an exotic nuisance mussel -- through North America's freshwater environments, especially the Great Lakes, and on efforts to control it.