About *Limnoperna fortunei *

Limnoperna fortunei, the golden mussel, is a medium-sized freshwater bivalve mollusc of the family Mytilidae. The native range of the species is China, but it has accidentally been introduced to South America and several Asian countries where it has become an invasive species. It is considered to be an ecosystem engineer because it alters the nature of the water and the bottom habitats of lakes and rivers and modifies the associated invertebrate communities. It also has strong effects on the properties of the water column, modifying nutrient proportions and concentrations, increasing water transparency, decreasing phytoplankton and zooplankton densities, on which it feeds, and enhancing the growth of aquatic macrophytes. Because mussels attach to hard substrata, including the components of industrial, water-treatment and power plants, they have become a major biofouling problem in the areas invaded.

Limnoperna fortunei is dioecious, with approximately equal numbers of males and females and very small proportions of hermaphrodites. L. fortunei is a strictly freshwater species, although it can tolerate brackish waters of up to 23 per mil (23 grams of salt per liter of water) for restricted periods of time (hours).

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Taxonomy ID 356393

(Text from Wikipedia.)

More information General information about this species can be found in Wikipedia

Taxonomy ID 356393

Data source WELLCOME SANGER INSTITUTE

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