By Alice Rossignol and Rachael Gleason
Editor’s note: Great Lakes Smackdown! is an ongoing Great Lakes Echo series.
Round 2, Bracket 1
The first of the Round 1 winners take to the lake:
So how does the watermilfoil stack up against a mussel? In reality they cooperate more than they fight.
The Eurasian Invasion is known for being resourceful in the ring. Once it latches onto an unsuspecting trailer hitch, there’s no telling where it’ll end up. And the quagga mussel is often along for the ride. The Quagmeister can survive in the milfoil’s weeds for up to a week and jump ship to other bodies of water.
The Eurasian Invasion’s sloppy style may be a foothold for quaggas, but the water filterers can also pave the way for their plant counterparts. The Quagmeister’s ravenous hunger can increase water clarity and allow aquatic vegetation to thrive. And don’t forget, the Eurasian Invasion has friends. Its weeds make a great hangout for fish.
Which one is worse? Vote in Round 2 of the Great Lakes SmackDown!
Fighter Profiles:
"The Eurasian Invasion." Photo: National Park Service.
Eurasian “THE EURASIAN INVASION” Watermilfoil
Legal name: Myriophyllum spicatum
Home Turf: Europe and Asia.
U.S. Fighting Debut: 1940s
Agent: Aquarium trade
Preferred fighting arena: Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Erie
Weight/Size class: 6 to 9-feet
Fighting Skills:
– This aggressive aquatic herb out-competes native aquatic plants by blocking sunlight and crowding them out.
– Try maneuvering your boat through watermilfoil-infested waters and watch the mess it creates in your motor. And then watch your property value go down.
– The plant has a talent for washing up in foul-smelling piles on beaches.
Offspring: This invader can reproduce from its own plant fragments.
Quagga "The Quagmeister" Mussel. Photo: USGS.
Quagga “THE QUAGMEISTER” Mussel
Legal name: Dreissena rostriformis bugensis
Home Turf: Ukraine, Ponto-Caspian Sea.
U.S. Fighting Debut: September 1989 near Port Colborne, Lake Erie.
Agent: Ballast water
Preferred fighting arena: All five Great Lakes.
Weight/Size class: Reaching sizes up to 4 cm – but they are often larger than zebra mussels.
Fighting Skills:
– This fella is highly adaptable.
– As ravenous water filters they suck up phytoplankton and water particulates starving out creatures higher up on the food chain that depend on them.
– By filtering water they increase water clarity, which can cause an increase of aquatic plants.
– This competitor loves to cling to hard surfaces like water pipes, inhibiting the water flow to these structures. But it can exist anywhere like lake bottoms.
– Quaggas gather toxins in their systems. When eaten by predators these toxics are passed up the food chain.
Life Expectancy: Three to five years.
Offspring: Up to one million eggs per year.
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