Invasive, Destructive Zebra Mussels Sneak Into Georgia Pet Stores
A USGS Hydrologic Technician holds a batch of zebra mussels found in the St. Lawrence River in New York. Zebra mussels have been discovered in pet stores in more than 25 states, including Georgia.
John Byrnes / USGS
Wildlife officials in Georgia and around the country are raising the alarm about the potential spread of zebra mussels, which are described by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as “one of the most destructive invasive species in North America.”
Zebra mussels have been discovered in pet stores in more than 25 states, including Georgia. They’re turning up in moss balls, bright green hunks of algae that are popular aquarium decorations.
PetCo and Petsmart have both issued national recalls on moss balls, and officials are encouraging anyone who’s recently bought moss balls to destroy them and drain and treat the water they were in.
The contaminated moss balls were first discovered in Washington State earlier this month.
The Georgia Department of Natural Resources then began checking pet stores here, initially at PetCo, where the zebra mussels were first seen, and then at other pet stores – both chains and local mom and pops – and found zebra mussels in multiple places.
“We realized at that point that this is this is real; we’ve got to deal with it,” said Georgia DNR senior fisheries biologist Jim Page, who coordinates the state’s aquatic nuisance species program.
According to federal officials, zebra mussels have established themselves in the wild in more than 30 states, though they haven’t been found in the wild in Georgia yet.
Page said he’d like to keep it that way.
“They’re very small, only about the size of your thumbnail,” he said. “But collectively, they make a big, big problem.”
They can wreak havoc on natural environments and damage water infrastructure, boats and docks.
“These things are known to cause millions of dollars of damage each year,” Page said.
In the past, they’ve mostly been known to spread via boats and boat trailers, which is why the state encourages people to clean and dry their boats.
Now, Georgia and other states are asking pet stores to help check their moss balls, and for anyone who bought a moss ball in the last couple of months, to destroy it – and not flush it down the toilet or get rid of it outside, since that may just help the zebra mussels spread.
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