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How did zebra mussels likely arrive in the Great Lakes?
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invasive species
Kudzu (Pueraria montana) along a roadside in southern Virginia, U.S.
Zebra mussels (Dreissena) likely arrived in the Great Lakes around 1986 via ship ballast water.12
As an invasive species, these tiny mussels were accidentally transported from Europe to North America in the water used by ships for stability. Once introduced, they proliferated rapidly, adhering to surfaces and disrupting local food webs by consuming vast amounts of phytoplankton, which negatively impacts native fish and mussel populations.132